Belgium

by Edith Wharton

Belgium was published in the anthology, A Treasury of War Poetry: British and American Poems of the World War 1914-1917 (1917).

An illustration for the story Belgium by the author Edith Wharton — Ypres, Belgium after WWI, destroyed Cloth Hall, built 1200

La Belgique ne regrette rien
(Belgium regrets nothing)

Not with her ruined silver spires,
Not with her cities shamed and rent,
Perish the imperishable fires
That shape the homestead from the tent.
Wherever men are staunch and free,
There shall she keep her fearless state,
And homeless, to great nations be
The home of all that makes them great.

In 1916, Wharton was given France's highest prize, appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, for her contribution to the War effort. We feature her poem in our collection of World War I Literature.

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