Page:Scott Nearing - The Germs of War (1916).djvu/11



I was a Tyrolese, a mountaineer:

I gladly left my mountain home to fight

Against the brutal, treacherous Muscovite;

And died in Poland on a Cossack spear.

I gave my life for freedom—This I know;

For those who bade me fight had told me so.

I worked in Lyons at my weaver's loom,

When suddenly the Prussian despot hurled

His felon blow at France and at the world;

Then I went forth to Belgium and my doom.

I gave my life for freedom—This I know;

For those who bade me fight had told me so.

I owned a vineyard by the wooded Main,

Until the Fatherland, begirt by foes

Lusting her downfall, called me, and I rose

Swift to the call—and died in fair Lorraine.

I gave my life for freedom—This I know;

For those who bade me fight had told me so.

I worked in a great shipyard by the Clyde;

There came a sudden word of wars declared,

Of Belgium, peaceful, helpless, unprepared,

Asking our aid; I joined the ranks, and died.

I gave my life for freedom—This I know;

For those who bade me fight had told me so.

The United States is now in the midst of a campaign of misrepresentation, the like of which has never before been undertaken in the history of the country. For years, the American reading public has been treated to a flood of systematic lying about Mexico. So serious did the situation become that the President of the United States was finally forced to issue a warning which was printed in the papers of March 26, 1916. Among other things the President charged the great vested interests