War Trophies
Homeward thy spirit fled, Glad to be on its way; Freed from a field of dead, My darling — so lately wed — My love of yesterday.
Anna M. Johnson
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)
Homeward thy spirit fled, Glad to be on its way; Freed from a field of dead, My darling — so lately wed — My love of yesterday.
A young woman speaks to her husband, who has just died in battle. The poem is only five short lines, but it carries a lot of grief. She imagines his spirit leaving the battlefield and flying home, and she describes it as "glad to be on its way," as though death has at least freed him from the horror of "a field of dead."
The details that hurt most are in the last two lines. He is "so lately wed," and she calls him "my love of yesterday." That phrase is striking: their marriage was so new that yesterday still feels like the present, and now it has already become the past. The speaker doesn't rage or accuse. Her tone is tender and quiet, almost like a whispered farewell.
The mood is sorrowful but gentle. There is a small comfort in picturing his spirit finding peace, yet the poem leaves us with the sense of how much has been cut short. The title, "War Trophies," adds a bitter edge: what war has "won" here is a young husband's life, and the poem seems to be asking us to see that cost.