The Night Patrol Poem : The Guards Came Through and Other Poems by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Night Patrol Poem
by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Night Patrol Poem
September 1918
BEHIND me on the darkened pier
They crowd and chatter, man and maid,
A coon-song gently strikes the ear,
A flapper giggles in the shade.
There where the in-turned lantern gleams
It shines on khaki and on brass;
Across its yellow slanting beams
The arm-locked lovers slowly pass.
Out in the darkness one far light
Throbs like a pulse, and fades away—
Some signal on the guarded Wight,
From Helen’s Point to Bembridge Bay.
An eastern wind blows chill and raw.
Cheerless and black the waters lie,
And as I gaze athwart the haze,
I see the night patrol go by.
Creeping shadows blur the gloom,
Thicken and darken, pass and fade;
Again and yet again they loom.
One ruby spark above each shade—
Twelve ships in all! They glide so near,
One hears the wave the fore-foot curled,
And yet to those upon the pier
They seem some other sterner world.
The coon-song whimpers to a wail.
The treble laughter sinks and dies,
The lovers cluster on the rail,
With whispered words and straining eyes.
One hush of awe, and then once more
The vision fades for them and me,
And there is laughter on the shore,
And silent duty on the sea.
The Guards Came Through and Other Poems
Victrix Poem
Those Others Poem
The Guards Came Through Poem
Haig Is Moving Poem
The Guns In Sussex Poem
Ypres Poem
Grousing Poem
The Volunteer Poem
The Night Patrol Poem
The Bugles Of Canada Poem
The Wreck On Loch Mcgarry Poem
The Bigot Poem
The Athabasca Trail Poem
Ragtime! Poem
Christmas In Trouble Poem
To Carlo Poem
To Ronald Ross Poem
Little Billy Poem
Take Heart Poem
Retrospect Poem
Comrades Poem
Lindisfaire Poem
Holy Grail A Parable Poem
Fate Poem
