The rivalries of men of state
The pride of petty Kings
The need to prove your nation great
The root of many things
"Our Empire always had the right
To rule your grateful Land"
The rush to own the greater might
And hold the upper hand
So many millions died for these
The thoughts of little men
And never mind our urgent pleas
They will occur again
To rush to War is seldom right
Appeasement always wrong
The peaceful sometimes have to fight
Or suffer from the strong
But surely there will come a time
When those who call for wars
Should have to answer for their crime
Not call for more applause
A border tiff, a civil strife,
An end to tribal shame
All causes that will end the life
Of those who aren't to blame
So count to ten and think again
You need to talk not kill
The answer's not the death of men
We've more than had our fill
The War to end all Wars was fought
Before the greater war
All good intentions come to naught
We just kill more and more
Remember this eleventh hour
To stand and bow your head
And then do all that's in your power
Too many men are dead
Author notes
Rather rambling I'm afraid, just my thoughts on what is (for me here) already the 11th of November.
Last stanza was
Remember at the 'leventh hour
To stand and bow your head
Then do all that is in your power
Too many men are dead
A contest entry
- G...est pour la Guerre! by DogFish.
1000 points, ended November 14, 2008, 6 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me honestly what you think, good or bad.
Comments
1 - 38 of 38
-
Mr. Cricketjeff, this is amazing ..truly amazing...this will melt the hearts of all who read it...brings tears to my eyes...you have captured and put into words the years and years of man's "rush to war"...this should be required reading to all nations leaders. thanks, Lynda
-
Too many men are dead indeed!!....
'You need to talk not kill,'......if only THEY would...Lu
-
such a nice break from the cliche patriotism. The history of wars are fascinating though, I love to read them, though I I do not love mass murder.
-
Wow i really enjoyed reading that poem beginning to end,,,,amazing job..i look forward to reading more of your work,,
-
well said
If we had to go back to the time when Kings and leaders led their men into battle there would be far fewer wars created by armchair generals.
The words of the song / poem No more Waltzing Matilda With Me have haunted me ever since I heard it. We remember the dead but what of those seriously injured?
I see you won silver so the gold must have been Very good
-
This has a nice classical feel about it.. we just seem to collectively love war too much dont we?
-
"So count to ten and think again
You need to talk not kill
The answer's not the death of men
We've more than had our fill"
I honestly think when enough people come to see war as insane, it will end.
How To Prevent War
http://allpoetry.com/poem/5450923 -
lovely poem i enjoyed reading it... you really know how to ryhme... and i felt like you were reading it to me real nice
-
Haha, My God ! i enjoyed it thoroughly !! very nicely organised !! I should applaud on this one !!
Really fascinating in rhymes as well as in the feelings !!
Ans since u r into the cricket, u should have this type of feeling, the one of brotherhood and hatred for the wars !!
I am not judging you, u r far more ahead to be judged by me !!
But again nice work !!
-
To rush to War is seldom right
Appeasement always wrong
The peaceful sometimes have to fight
Or suffer from the strong
This write couldn't ring more true. Very Powerful.
-
I really love the way you rhyme...it makes your poems a joy to read. The content of this was also magnificent. Great work.
-
-
Thank-you, it is very kind of you to say so.
-
-
fantastic i love it what feeling and truth
-
Goodness that was absolutely wonderful! The wording is just glorious! I admire this work greatly! Humane nature seems to rely on war as much as it does peace but because they are such bipolar opposites our nature is constantly in a pendelum swing between the two. GLorious design!
-
Great Work
An exellent anti war poem not a word wasted not a truth untold lovely rhyming and flow, first class
George..... -
A wonderful pieace, but whats new? Keep writting as you do!
~ Chelsey ♥ -
Excellent
This is well reasoned, well thought out -- and it makes total sense.
-
This deserved more than a silver my friend! This is so true and to the point. The imagery is great and contemporary. Definitely gold material
-
Simply marvelous in quality of writing, and the truth of your message.
-
I absolutely loved it. Good job. I loved how you expressed that war is not the answer. Very good. I agree with you.
-
SO THINK AGAIN AND COUNT TO TEN
YOU NEED TOU TALK NOT KILL
THESE LINES ARE EXCELLENT, I LOVE THE NIFTY WAY YOU KEEP ALL YOUR RHYMING SO TIGHT, LIKE LITTLE REGIMENTED MARCHING MEN
THIS IS INCREDIBLE
THANKS FOR THE READ
-
A border tiff, a civil strife,
An end to tribal shame
All causes that will end the life
Of those who aren't to blame
i love the rhyming in this stanza, to be honest the whole poem is quite powerful. When i stumbled upon your page i was baffaled by the amount of trophies you have so i had to read something, and i am glad i did, now i can be delightfuly in awe of another fantastic poet on this website. Wonderful work, the meaning is tremendous.
Laura.
-
Good Job
i like this poem i realy enjoyed reading this piece i love the whole thing nothing to complain about this piece all i can say is good job wow an amazing poem i love it thank you for the comment and the points i cant thank you enough for it thank keep it up keep on going stay true stay sic and peace out
Thank You Very Much
John -
Read your notes and I don't think it's "rambling" at all. Each verse has meaning and I see it won a trophy too!
Love,
Amera♥
-
A truly deep and thoughtful write. I could not agree more with the pleas you present here. If only mankind were not so angry and greedy... but I am glad you left the last line "man". I read some past comments and I quite disagree; as an independent woman and a poet, I don't see sexism myself and I quite agree that your way feels the strongest. Lovely work!
-
"The peaceful sometimes have to fight
Or suffer from the strong"
This is so true, and the reason I believe that I personally cannot be automatically against all war.
"A border tiff, a civil strife,
An end to tribal shame
All causes that will end the life
Of those who aren't to blame"
This is also so true. Here in the US, there was recently some buzz about certain political figures having family members who are fighting in the war. It created such a buzz because it is so seldom the case.
A wonderful poem. As always, you have rhymed beautifully and given me something to think about.
-
Too many men are dead...
I don't know why, but this seems to be sexist to me. Many many women died too. I am usually the last one to cry for political correctness, but for some reason I feel this poem would be better served if you rewrote that last line.
As I look through this poem I am smiling at its clever use of language to make meter and the obvious wit that went into it. I think that what strikes me most about this, is it seems to me to be your most passionate work. This one strikes me as all heart and no ego. I give it two thumbs up and three bunnies.
-
-
In my mind at least men in this context encompasses women, the family of man, mankind etc.
However I as poet would have no objection to the reader reading
Too many now are dead
It seems a little weaker to me though. If you have any alternate suggestions I am always interested. -
-
Remember this eleventh hour
To stand and bow your head
And then do all that's in your power
From adding to the dead.
That's my favorite, but here are some more possibilities.
There's been too many dead.
From tallying more dead.
Enough are lying dead.
Too many now lie dead.
Too many souls are dead.
Too many folks are dead.
From suffering more dead.
Ultimately it is your decision and I will respect it. It was just a thought.
-
-
-
that is sad it makes me think of how many people in my family has suffered for to long and now i wanna cry but its good
-
Kind of Tennyson-esque in a way. I certainly agree with the sentiment here. Nice.
-
Despite the awkward "'leventh", this is one of your best ever poems, in both sentiment and structure.
-
-
No longer has an awkward 'leventh.
And thank-you for the very kind words. -
-
Nae borra.
-
-
-
"Rather rambling I'm afraid", you say.
Well I say it rambles rather nicely!
A very serious subject but I like your touches of irony:
"Our Empire always had the right
To rule your grateful Land"
or
"The War to end all Wars was fought
Before the greater war"
thanks for your contribution!
-
Alas, if this advice had been taken in 1914 this world would look very different indeed! All war is horrible, though the Great War, for some reason, has always seemed most especially tragic. Great poem!
-
Rambling? in no way my friend thoughts that any intelligent person would have in their heads More especially at this time of year.
We never learn in 100 years we will still be mourning the loss of young lives wasted in some old mans ambition
Excellent
-
How well you put over your views in this profound write which leaves nothing to chance.
Harry Patch, along with two other Great War veterans will be paying their own private homage today-two minutes of peace...
Adding your comment:
1 - 38 of 38
