Of the Great White War

During the years when the white men fought each other,

I observed how the aged cried aloud in public places

Of 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 aged

Became 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 health

Of the young men they had sent out to die for them.