I will not bear my country's arms again In foreign war. I will not fight and spill The pulsing life of other chosen men To guard the gains of trade. My heart and will Shall not be blinded, led to slaughter, sold By marketmasters as their slaves. My blood Belongs to home-land, whose defense I hold My duty and my privilege. No flood Of greed-spawned lies shall bear me overseas To kill the sons of other mothers, or To die, fetching for commerce-kings their keys, Patterned in power-lust, reeking, red with war -- I will not fight in war on foreign soil, To conquer for these profit-lords more spoil. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WASTED HOURS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 44 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN ANECDOTE FOR FATHERS by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE PILGRIM by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD ECLOGUE: THE COMMON A-TOOK IN by WILLIAM BARNES |