War

I     There is no picturesqueness and no glory,          No halo of romance, in war to-day.          It is a hideous thing; Time would turn grey     With horror, were he not already hoary     At sight of this vile monster, foul and gory.          Yet while sweet women perish as they pray,          And new-born babes are slaughtered, who dare say     'Halt!' till Right pens its 'Finis' to the story!     There is no pathway, but the path through blood,          Out of the horrors of this holocaust.     Hell has let loose its scalding crimson flood,          And he who stops to argue now is lost.     Not brooms of creeds, not Pacifistic words     Can stem the tide, but swords - uplifted swords!     II     Yet, after Peace has turned the clean white page          There shall be sorrow on the earth for years;          Abysmal grief, that has no eyes for tears,     And youth that hobbles through the earth like age.     But better to play this part upon life's stage          Than to aid structures that a tyrant rears,          To live a stalwart hireling torn with fears,     And shamed by feeding on a conqueror s wage.     Death, yea, a thousand deaths, were sweet in truth          Rather than such ignoble life.    God gave     Being, and breath, and high resolve to youth          That it might be Wrong's master, not its slave.     Our road to Freedom is the road to guns!     Go, arm your sons!    I say, Go, arm your sons!     III     Arm! arm! that mandate on each wind is whirled.          Let no man hesitate or look askance,          For from the devastated homes of France     And ruined Belgium the cry is hurled.     Why, Christ Himself would keep peace banners furled          Were He among us, till, with lifted lance,          He saw the hosts of Righteousness advance     To purify the Temples of the world.     There is no safety on the earth to-day          For any sacred thing, or clean, or fair;     Nor can there be, until men rise and slay          The hydra-headed monster in his lair.     War! horrid War! now Virtue's only friend;     Clasp hands with War, and battle to the end!