A "SONG OF WAR"

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 120, 7 February 1918, Page 5

A "SONG OF WAR"

—; o ONE OF THE SANCTIONS OF CANNIBALISM. Tho full text of a "Song of War" was found on the body of a German prisoner recently. It breathes a primitive spirit of barbarism which is not without its touch of savage interest. The feeling that underlies it is an elementary interpretation of Nature, including the barbarous belief that tho energy and. virtue of tho. vanquished pass into the victor. This is well known to ho one of tho sanctions of cannibalism. Armed sou of Germany, forward! 'Tis the hour of joy.and of glory. O gunner. tii-'great cannon—thy invulnerablo brother, calls thee. Was it not made to rejuvenate tho world? 0, rifleman, see, Ihou art the force that conquers ci-en death. No obstacle avails— where'er thou gocst and cntcre.et, there enters Germany.

O horseman, spur, fight, cast down—we await a harvest of hcadß; guide thy steed like a winged atorm. That trembling flesh is ready to enrich the fields that will bo thin and thy children's. Son of Germany, the longed-for hour has come. Life does not end. it passes and Is transformed; the life of the vanquished is absorbed into that of the victor; the lifo of the slain becomes a part of tho slayer. See how now thmi canst gather into tho boßom of thy holy Fatherland the lifo of tho world. Havo no weak pity on womon and children. The son of the vanquished has often been tho victor of tho morrow. Of ■what use is victory if the morrow brings revenge? Why, in killing thine enemy, should thou leave thy son's enemy alive? Armed son of Germany, forward! Destroy, break.' cast down, spear-hum, kill, kill, kill-thc path of glory is before us! (Found on a prisoner between Cividale and - Udine, November, 1017.)