[‘King of Redonda’: John Gawsworth, English poet.] Galley proof of his poem ‘Rest’ (‘Beneath the oaks the soldiers lie’) with one minor emendation.

On one side of a 12mo a piece of grey-green paper; creased, worn and torn at the bottom. A fifteen-line poem in five three-line stanzas, titled ‘REST’. At end: ‘JOHN GAWSWORTH’. Proof directions in pencil to convert a full-stop at the end of the fourth stanza to a comma. While the poet's attempt at direct simplicity verges on triteness, one should recall that he served manfully in the RAF: ‘Beneath the oaks the soldiers lie / Staring at the open sky / Drowsily, lazily. / Like England is this plot of green / But in the mountains all unseen / The guns’ complaint affects the scene. / Death is abroad this sunny day. / Life has no time for idle play: / Soon these will go their comrades’ way. / Meanwhile the oaks throw chequered shade / Upon the brows of many a blade / Still eager and still unafraid[,] / And overhead the clouds scud on / Unto their own oblivion / Whence soon these men, too, will be gone.’ Apparently published in the Briarcliffe Quarterly - Volumes 1-12 - Page 50 1944, but Google don't even give a snippet.