Page:Soldier poets, songs of the fighting men, 1916.djvu/30

Rh We vaunt ourselves and puff our chests with pride,

Saying that man was ne'er so civilized,

No age so cultured. How the gods must smile

At such a paradox, at such a lie!

With frightful ingenuity, perhaps,

We have amassed a quantity of means

Whereby to sow destruction and to kill

Each other; yet the thought cannot be crushed

That, to be civilized means something more.

It is so trivial, for here are we,

Who are but particles upon a world,

Itself a minute atom lost in space,

At war with one another, filled with hate

And lust to kill and primal savag'ry.

What is the use, when all is said and done,

If we have hurried to eternity

The souls of many million fellow-men?

Our lives are but a moment in all time,

A fleeting instant, quickly come and gone;

Why fret ourselves in order to curtail

The short existences of other men?

And yet, in order to achieve this end

We suffer untold hardships, spend our wealth,

Endure the indescribable, and strain

Our ev'ry sinew, muscle, energy,

And name us patriots! 26