Page:Poems, Alan Seeger, 1916.djvu/214

 You have a leader who knows—the man

Most fit to be called American,

A prophet that once in generations

Is given to point to erring nations

Brighter ideals toward which to press

And lead them out of the wilderness.

Will you turn your back on him once again?

Will you give the tiller once more to men

Who have made your country the laughing-stock

For the older peoples to scorn and mock,

Who would make you servile, despised, and weak,

A country that turns the other cheek,

Who care not how bravely your flag may float,

Who answer an insult with a note,

Whose way is the easy way in all,

And, seeing that polished arms appal

Their marrow of milk-fed pacifist,

Would tell you menace does not exist?

Are these, in the world's great parliament,

The men you would choose to represent

Your honor, your manhood, and your pride,

And the virtues your fathers dignified?

Oh, bury them deeper than the sea

In universal obloquy;

Forget the ground where they lie, or write

For epitaph: "Too proud to fight."

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