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The Kia ora coo-ee : the magazine for the ANZACS in the Middle East, 1918

Above Jerusalem

Above Jerusalem.

Sunshine caressed the land
Till it was golden;
Hallowed the mountains and
Battlements olden;
Burned in the leafy shade
Spotted confusion;
Down the dark alleys made
Tender intrusion.
Over white walls it streamed,
Up the facades,
Until the windows gleamed
Fiercer than dagger blades.

Kissed by a perfect day,
Gilded and mellowed o'er,
Prone the old city lay
Down on her broken floor
Like a rich carpet, flung
Out from God's mills,
Sprawling a-swoon among
Hollows and hills.
Girdled with gold and green—
Spared by the gun—
Sweetest thing ever seen
Under the winter sun!

From Sion's summit, I
Gazed through the languid hours,
Under a limpid sky,
Over her domes and towers—
Saw not beneath the fair
Hues of her dress,
Hunger and dumb despair,
Blatant distress.
When the dread scimitar
Ceases to slay,
Out of the storm of war
Blossoms the perfect day!