Every One Sang

Every one suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark green fields;
on;
on;
and out of sight.

Every one’s voice was suddenly lifted,
And beauty came like the setting sun.
My heart was shaken with tears, and horror
Drifted away … O, but every one
Was a bird;
and the song was wordless;
the singing will never be done.


- Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967)


Nicely done, by a poet I know absolutely nothing about. Took the book of verse off the shelf, flipped a random page, and there ’twas.