I stood in the flag-decked cheering crowd <br />Where all but I were gay, <br />And gazing on their extesy, <br />My heart shrank in dismay. <br /> <br />For theirs was the joy of the 'little folk' <br />The cruel glee of the weak, <br />Who, banded together, have slain the strong <br />Which none alone dared seek. <br /> <br />The Bosch we know was a hideous beast <br />Beyond our era's ban, <br />But soldiers still must honor the Hun <br />As a mighty fighting man. <br /> <br />The vice he had was strong and real <br />Of virtue he had none, <br />Yet he fought the world remorselessly <br />And very nearly won… <br /> <br />And looking forward I could see <br />Like a festering sewer; <br />Full of the fecal Pacifists <br />Which peace makes us endure…. <br /> <br />None of the hold and blatant sin <br />The disregard of pain, <br />The glorious deeds of sacrefice <br />which follow in wars train. <br /> <br />Instead of these the little lives <br />Will blossom as before, <br />Pale bloom of creatures all too weak <br />To hear the light of war. <br /> <br />While we whose spirits wider range <br />Can grasp the joys of strife, <br />Will moulder in the virtuous vice <br />Of futile peaceful life. <br /> <br />We can but hope that e're we drown <br />'Neath treacle floods of grace, <br />The tuneless horns of mighty, Mars <br />Once more shall rouse the Race <br /> <br />When such times come, Oh! God of War <br />Grant that we pass midst strife, <br />Knowing once more the whitehot joy <br />Of taking human life. <br /> <br />Then pass in peace, blood-glutted Bosch <br />And when we too shall fall, <br />We'll clasp in yours our gory hands <br />In High Valhallas' Hall.<br /><br />General George S Patton Jnr<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/peace-november-11-1918/
