Gethsemane
The Garden called Gethsemane
In Picardy it was,
And there the people came to see
The English soldiers pass.
We used to pass — we used to pass
Or halt, as it might be,
And ship our masks in case of gas
Beyond Gethsemane.
The Garden called Gethsemane,
It held a pretty lass,
But all the time she talked to me
I prayed my cup might pass.
The officer sat on the chair,
The men lay on the grass,
And all the time we halted there
I prayed my cup might pass.
It didn’t pass — it didn’t pass —
It didn’t pass from me.
I drank it when we met the gas
Beyond Gethsemane.
~~
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
from The Years Between, 1919
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]
Rudaryd Kipling biography
One footnote that may make the poem more understandable is Mark 14:36:
ReplyDelete"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."