A common theme in Grandma's poems are the loss of her son Victor Hill. He was killed in the battle of Hill 70 near Lens, France on 15 August 1917, and lies buried in the Maroc British Cemetery near there. This poem and the next few describe her grief.
A Grave in France
For just once, glance -
Dear Lord, I pray, upon that
Far off lonely grave
Somewhere in France.
His life he gave -
Unreconciled my lonely soul
That this should be -
A lonely grave.
Unanswered prayer -
With eyes of faith,
That far off grave I see, and lo, -
The Lord is there.
No more alone -
Through shrieking shell and
Poisoned flame, the Master sought -
And found his own.
Nancy Jane Wiley Hill (1875-1960) was always writing something. Many of those poems are now in the possession of her granddaughter Shirley Kern. Shirley, with the help of her sister-in-law Ruth Ormsby, transcribed these poems in 1996 for a Hill-Ormsby-Kern family reunion. I am going to post many of these poems so that they may be enjoyed by all.
These are copyright 1996 and reprinted with permission.
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