WAR.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 292, 24 May 1898, Page 3

WAR.

. o Demoniac Thou ! Thy hates, and wiles Horror depicts—and Satan smiles Jubilant, that nations' serried files Should 'gainst each other hew, and slay, 'Till skill, or carnage win the day, Or glutted arms, shall cease display ! Nations disdain ! Fair countries ravaged, over-ran, By hordes of ruthless, brutal man, Devasting all beneath that ban : Aye ! ravisher of home and heart ! Despoiling, wheresoe'er thou art — Avaunt! thou scourge !go hence, depart ! A Peaco proclaim ! More sure, more deadly doth doviso Thy cruel hands ! inventions rise That rend the soul—who sympathize With such that fall! Yet, 'tis proclaimed in modern war, • The crimes that follow, men abhor— Such ravages the world ne'er saw, Cast shame, o'er all! The age now seemeth e'en to rend. Annihilate ! 'tis such their tend — Thy shot, and shell, vast distance send, O'er oceans cast! No age of armoured knights and moats, Of culverins, or wooden boats ! Death looms afar, it lusts, and gloats, While cannons blast. Beneath the waters dark and deep, 'Gainst iron ships, thy demons creep— Hence orphans cry ! and children weep, And brave men die ! As now the battle's waged, and bought, And armoured monsteis' shells retort, A Kingdom e'en too dearly fought! The end be nigh ! 'Twerc Infamy ! a so-called right! Proud Princes ! crime as black as night, Devastating I fair lauds to blight— What canst thou sate ? Oh ! brothers let thy raging cease, Give thou thine aim to lasting peace— Thy culture, yea ! for good increase ! Man ! arbitrate 1 Thy weapons into ploughshares beat, Thy warriors then in friendship greet, All Kingdoms, on one stage shall meet — A nobler fate ! A. T. Ceeighton.