Watch, I warn you,
By night and starlight,
You who are chosen to
Stand on the brick-built
Walls of Modena:
Wait for the dawn-hour.
Standing at arms and
Peering in darkness
Over the flatlands;
Pacing slowly
On open stretches
Of mortared levels or
Close in catwalks;
Pause and listen,
With lowered eyelid and
Heart under breastplate:
Question the silence.
—Nothing but frogs
That chatter in ditches,
And crying of nightbirds.
Yet we watch to
Outwit the sorrowful,
Shag-haired rabble of
And so in our sentries
Bound and helmeted,
Over the city
We sing our watches,
Call on the Name and
Summon our safety—
Singing in antiphon
Answer in unison
‘Lord God omnipotent,
Shield and companion:
‘Saviour and King
And crown of mankind;
You who were born for
Our peace, to stand over us,
Keep your hand over us.’
Then, as the song goes,
Hear it echoing
Round by the walls
Of the guarded city,
Floating by tenements,
Roofs and courtyards,
Domes of churches and
Empty markets—
Stirring and comforting
Drowsy families,
Strangers at inns and
Close-laid lovers;
The patient candle
Of cellared workmen
Shuttered taverns,
And prayers in silence,
And lamps by altars
That live in darkness.
Then watch together, singing together,
And stand as faithful,
Hearing it echo
Round by the walls we
Keep in safety,
Until the first breath
Sent from the dawn-hour
Touches the night’s face,
And the dawn brightens.