Marianne Moore: I must fight till I have conquered in myself what causes war

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
 
American writers on peace and against war
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Marianne Moore
From In Distrust of Merit (1944)

Hate-hardened heart, O heart of iron
iron is iron till it is rust.
There never was a war that was
not inward; I must
fight till I have conquered in myself what
causes war, but I would not believe it.
I inwardly did nothing.
O Iscariot-like crime!
Beauty is everlasting
and dust is for a time.

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