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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
American writers on peace and against war
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Robert Freeman
Peace on Earth
The men of earth said: “We must war
As the men of the earth have warred;
‘Tis ours to wield on the battlefield
The unrelenting sword.”
But they who had seen the valiant die,
The fathers of men, they answered, “Why?”
The men of earth said: “We must arm,
For so we would reveal
The nobler part of the human heart,
The love of the nation’s weal.”
But they who had sung their lullaby,
The mothers of the men, they answered, “Why?”
Then men of the earth said: “We must fight,
For so the fit survive;
By the jungle law of fang and claw
The strong are kept alive.”
But a crippled, cankered progeny,
The sons of the culls, they answered, “Why?”
The men of the earth said: “We must fall,
And falling build the road
O’er which the race with quickening pace
Can find its way to God.”
But down from a cross uplifted high,
The Saviour of men, He answered, “Why?”
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