When will the laughter ring again in the way that it used to do? <br />Not till the soldiers come home again, not till the war is through. <br />When will the holly gleam again and the Christmas candles burn? <br />Not till the swords are sheathed once more and the brave of our land return. <br /> <br />When will happy hearts meet again in the lights of the Christmas tree? <br />Not till the cannons cease their roar and the sailors come from sea. <br />When shall we sing as we used to do and dance in the old-time way? <br />Not till the soldiers come home again and the bugles cease to play. <br /> <br />Oh, dull is the red of the holly now and faintly the candles burn; <br />And we long for the smile of the missing face and the absent one's return. <br />We long for the laughter we used to know and the love that made giving sweet, <br />But we must wait for the joys of old till the drums shall cease to beat. <br /> <br />We shall laugh once more as we used to do, and dance in the old-time way, <br />For this is the pledge they have made to us who serve in the war to-day; <br />And the joys of home that we treasure so are the joys that their lives defend, <br />And they shall give us our Christmas time as soon as the war shall end.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-the-drums-shall-cease-to-beat/
