Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/197

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��Lloyd Roberts

The eldest living son of Major Charles G. D. Roberts (q.v.}&amp;lt; Born in Fredericton, N.B., October 31st, 1884. Educated in the local schools and subsequently at Windsor, NS. When twenty years of age, was Assistant Editor of Outing Magazine, New York. Later, became an editorial writer for The National En cyclopedia of American Biography. For several years has been Editor of Immigration Literature, in the Department of the Interior^ at Ottawa. Author of England Over Seas a book of distinctive verse, published in 1914. His fine war poem Come Quietly, Britain/ is included in my larger anthology, Canadian Poets.

IF I MUST

OD knows there s plenty of earth for all of us!

Then why must we sweat for it, deny for it,

Pray for it, cry for it,

Kill, maim and lie for it,

Struggle and suffer and die for it

We who are gentle and sane?

Let us respect one another, wherever we are.

Fly your flag, O my brother;

I like its bright colour, whether red, green or yellow;

Your language is queer, but I ll lefcm it in time;

And you re a dear fellow,

If your laws are not quite so clean as our own :

But then ours need pruning, and thistles have grown.

So I won t spill your blood, for that s not the way To assist in law-making, whatever some say. I ll try by example to lead you aright Out of the shadows and into the light If you ll do as much for me.

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