A Sergeant's Prayer

A poem which seems certain of countless reprintings, of a place in all subsequent anthologies of war poetry, reached the U.S. last week from the Near East. Its author: Sergeant Hugh Brodie of the Royal Australian Air Force, onetime Melbourne University student, now "missing in action." Wrote he:

Almighty and all present Power,

Short is the prayer I make to Thee,

I do not ask in battle hour

For any shield to cover me.

The vast unalterable way,

From which the stars do not depart

May not beturned aside to stay

The bullet flying to my heart.

I ask no help to strike my foe,

I seek no petty victory here,

The enemy I hate, I know,

To Thee is also dear.

But this I pray, be at my side

When death is drawing through the sky.

Almighty God who also died

Teach me the way that I should die.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.