I saw the spires of Oxford <br />As I was passing by, <br />The gray spires of Oxford <br />Against the pearl-gray sky. <br />My heart was with the Oxford men <br />Who went abroad to die. <br /> <br />The years go fast in Oxford, <br />The golden years and gay, <br />The hoary Colleges look down <br />On careless boys at play. <br />But when the bugles sounded war <br />They put their games away. <br /> <br />They left the peaceful river, <br />The cricket-field, the quad, <br />The shaven lawns of Oxford, <br />To seek a bloody sod- <br />They gave their merry youth away <br />For country and for God. <br /> <br />God rest you, happy gentlemen, <br />Who laid your good lives down, <br />Who took the khaki and the gun <br />Instead of cap and gown. <br />God bring you to a fairer place <br />Than even Oxford town.<br /><br />Winifred Mary Letts<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-spires-of-oxford/
