War Is Kind and Other Poems by Stephen Crane

Author:Stephen Crane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 1998-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

LXVIII

A spirit sped

Through spaces of night;

And as he sped, he called,

"God! God!"

He went through valleys

Of black death-slime,

Ever calling,

"God! God!"

Their echoes

From crevice and cavern

Mocked him:

"God! God! God!"

Fleetly into the plains of space

He went, ever calling,

"God! God!"

Eventually, then, he screamed,

Mad in denial,

"Ah, there is no God!"

A swift hand,

A sword from the sky,

Smote him,

And he was dead.

WAR IS KIND

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.

Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky

And the affrighted steed ran on alone,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,

Little souls who thirst for fight,

These men were born to drill and die.

The unexplained glory flies above them,

Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom —

A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.

Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,

Raged at his breast, gulped and died,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

Swift, blazing flag of the regiment,

Eagle with crest of red and gold,

These men were born to drill and die.

Point for them the virtue of slaughter,

Make plain to them the excellence of killing

And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button

On the bright splendid shroud of your son,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.