Quotes
Quotes about War
His eyes
All radiant with glad surprise,
Looked forward through the Centuries
And saw the seeds which sages cast
In the world's soil in cycles past
Spring up and blossom at the last;
Saw how the souls of men had grown,
And where the scythes of Truth had mown
Clear space for Liberty's white throne;
Saw how, by sorrow tried and proved,
The blackening stains had been removed
Forever from the land he loved;
Saw Treason crushed and Freedom crowned,
And clamorous Faction, gagged and bound,
Gasping its life out on the ground.
A little work, a little play
To keep us going--and so good-day!
A little warmth, a little light
Of love's bestowing--and so, good-night.
A little fun, to match the sorrow
Of each day's growing--and so, good-morrow!
A little trust that when we die
We reap our sowing--and so--good-bye!
The summer day was spoiled with fitful storm;
At night the wind died and the soft rain dropped;
With lulling murmur, and the air was warm,
And all the tumult and the trouble stopped.
White sail upon the ocean verge,
Just crimsoned by the setting sun,
Thou hast thy port beyond the surge,
Thy happy homeward course to run
And winged hope, with heart of fire,
To gain the bliss of thy desire.
Like rose-hued sea-flowers toward the heat,
They stretch and spread and wink
Their ten soft buds that part and meet.
There grows
No herb of help to heal a coward heart.
But when a snowflake, brave and meek,
Lights on a rosy maiden's cheek,
It starts--"How warm and soft the day!"
"'T is summer!" and it melts away.
My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.
The love of man and woman is as fire
To warm, to light, but surely to consume
And self-consuming die...
But comrade-love is as a welding blast
Of candid flame and ardent temperature:
Glowing more fervent, it doth bind more fast;
And melting both but makes the union sure.
The dross alone is burnt--till at the last
The steel, if cold, is one and strong and pure.
A little peach in an orchard grew,--
A little peach of emerald hue;
Warmed by the sun and wet by the dew
It grew.
All things change, creeds and philosophies and outward systems--but God remains.
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword.
The vilest deeds like poison-weeds
Bloom well in prison-air:
It is only what is good in Man
That wastes and withers there:
Pale Anguish keeps the heavy gate
And the Warder is Despair.
As long as war is regarded as wicked it will always have its fascinations. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.
He had a startling genius, but somehow it did n't emerge;
Always on the evolution of things that would n't evolve;
Always verging toward some climax, but he never reached the verge;
Always nearing the solution of some theme he could not solve.
A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterward. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have.
The hills look over on the South,
And Southward dreams the sea;
And with the sea-breeze hand in hand,
Came innocence and she.
Nor love they least
Who strike with right good will
To vanquish ill
And fight God's battle upward from the beast.
The East and the West in the spring of the world shall blend
As a man and a woman that plight
Their troth in the warm spring night.
Ye that follow the vision
Of the world's weal afar,
Have ye met with derision
And the red laugh of war?
Yet the thunder shall not hurt you
Nor the battle storms dismay;
Tho' the sun in heaven desert you
"Love will find out the way."
I am immortal! I know it! I feel it!
Hope floods my heart with delight!
Running on air, mad with life, dizzy, reeling,
Upward I mount--faith is sight, life is feeling,
Hope is the day-star of might!
Chance cannot touch me! Time cannot hush me!
Fear, hope, and longing, at strife,
Sink as I rise, on, on, upward forever,
Gathering strength, gaining breath,--naught can sever
Me from the Spirit of Life!
When all the blandishments of life are gone,
The coward sneaks to death, the brave live on.
Behold how brightly breaks the morning!
Though bleak our lot, our hearts are warm.
Say to the seceded States, "Wayward sisters, depart in peace."
