Of the Great White War
During the years when the white men fought each other,I observed how the aged cried aloud in public placesOf honour and chivalry, and the duty of the young;And how the young ceased doing the pleasant things of youth,And became suddenly old,And marched away to defend the aged.
And I observed how the agedBecame suddenly young;And mouthed fair phrases one to the other upon the Supreme Sacrifice,And turned to their account-books, murmuring gravely:Business as Usual;And brought out bottles of wine and drank the healthOf the young men they had sent out to die for them.