To C.A.L. (The Hon. Charles Lister) by C.A.A.
To have laughed and talked - wise, witty, fantastic, feckless -
To have mocked at rules and rulers and learnt to obey,
To have led your men with a daring adored and reckless,
To have struck your blow for Freedom, the old straight way:
To have hated the world and lived among those who love it,
To have thought great thoughts and lived till you knew them true,
To have loved men more than yourself and have died to prove it -
Yes, Charles, this is to have lived: was there more to do?
The poem was first published in London, UK in “The Times” newspaper in November 1917 and reprinted in February 1918 in “The Muse in Arms” anthology Edited by E. B. Osborne
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