Not to this had we sacrificed:
To sit at the last where the players diced
With blood-hot hands for the robes of Christ,
And snatch at the Devil's gold.
Sing the new soldiers:
To Odin's challenge we cried Amen!
We stayed the plough and laid by the pen,
And we shouldered our guns like gentlemen,
That the wiser weak should hold....
Time for the plough when the sword has won;
The loom will wait on the crashing gun,
And the hands of Peace drop benison
When the task of death is through.
Sing the old and new soldiers in unison:
Then lift the flag of the last Crusade!
And fill the ranks of the last Brigade!
March on to the fields where the world 's remade,
And the Ancient Dreams come true!
A typical new marching song, to stand by that, is the powerful protest and appeal, 'Before the Assault,' into which R. E. Vernède has distilled the innermost soul and purpose of the Allied Armies:
If through this roar o' guns one prayer may reach Thee,
Lord of all Life, whose mercies never sleep,
Not in our time, not now, Lord, we beseech Thee
To grant us peace. The sword has bit too deep.
