Page:Florence Earle Coates Mine and Thine 1904 109.jpg

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WAR

Once, long ago, in ages gone,
When man seemed as the brute,
I looked with dread to wisdom's dawn,
And virtue's ripening fruit:
Now sages wreathe my brow with bays,
And poets chant my praise.


And once, in little Bethlehem—
Once only, not again—
Peace wore a royal diadem:
But I could trust to men,
And crucified upon a tree,
Peace is a memory!


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