REALIZATION
There is one syllable that stirs me: War!
I picture what the mortal strife must be
Of Nations clad in youth and bravery.
I hear the voice of human anguish more
Compelling than it ever was before.
Across the universe, beyond the sea,
New life is spilled into infinity,
And the waves tell it moaning on our shore.
How comes it bleaker sorrow I can bear;
The combat starkly drawn, a street, a square
Away? The souls intrenched in frigid line
To fight for purposes no kings define;
For purposes as grim to them as life?
God, let me apprehend this nearer strife!
I picture what the mortal strife must be
Of Nations clad in youth and bravery.
I hear the voice of human anguish more
Compelling than it ever was before.
Across the universe, beyond the sea,
New life is spilled into infinity,
And the waves tell it moaning on our shore.
How comes it bleaker sorrow I can bear;
The combat starkly drawn, a street, a square
Away? The souls intrenched in frigid line
To fight for purposes no kings define;
For purposes as grim to them as life?
God, let me apprehend this nearer strife!