Then And Now

A little time agone, a few brief years,     And there was peace within our beauteous borders;     Peace, and a prosperous people, and no fears     Of war and its disorders.     Pleasure was ruling goddess of our land; with her attendant Mirth     She led a jubilant, joy-seeking band about the riant earth.     Do you recall those laughing days, my Brothers,     And those long nights that trespassed on the dawn?     Those throngs of idle dancing maids and mothers     Who lilted on and on -     Card mad, wine flushed, bejewelled and half stripped,     Yet women whose sweet mouth had never sipped     From sin's black chalice - women good at heart     Who, in the winding maze of pleasure's mart,     Had lost the sun-kissed way to wholesome pleasures of an earlier day.     Oh!    You remember them!    You filled their glasses;     You 'cut in' at their games of bridge; you left     Your work to drop in on their dancing classes     Before the day was cleft     In twain by noontide.    When the night waxed late     You led your partner forth to demonstrate     The newest steps before a cheering throng,     And Time and Peace danced by your side along.     Peace is a lovely word, and we abhor that red word 'War';     But look ye, Brothers, what this war has done for daughters and for son,     For manhood and for womanhood, whose trend     Seemed year on year toward weakness to descend.     Upon this woof of darkness and of terror, woven by human error,     Behold the pattern of a new race-soul,     And it shall last while countless ages roll.     At the loud call of drums, out of the idler and the weakling comes     The hero valiant with self-sacrifice, ready to pay the price     War asks of men, to help a suffering world.     And out of the arms of pleasure, where they whirled     In wild unreasoning mirth, behold the splendid women of the earth     Living new selfless lives - the toiling mothers, sister, daughters, wives     Of men gone forth as target for the foe.     Ah, now we know     Man is divine; we see the heavenly spark     Shining above the smoke and gloom and dark     Which was not visible in peaceful days.     God! wondrous are Thy ways,     For out of chaos comes construction; out of darkness and of doubt     And the black pit of death comes glorious faith;     From want and waste comes thrift, from weakness strength and power     And to the summits men and women lift     Their souls from self-indulgence in this hour,     This crucial hour of life:     So shines the golden side of this black shield of strife.