In mountain fastness dagger-fanged beasts augment the uproarious spell Fighting demons of nightmare frightfulness; their paws deal knockout blows. Adown human bones' clogged coulee, a crimson stream flows From bled-white prisoners in dungeons of Mars' gory citadel. With imps of perdition Mars matures his diabolical plot, Dismembering his cannon fodder, scattering their flesh on the four winds of Heaven, With modern weapons of warfare which war lords have given Their bloodthirsty master, by Satan begot. On the igneous foundation of Hell rest the citadel's four corners; The blood-dripping walls are constructed of battlefield carnage; The never-weary cannibal workmen are engaged Extending the walls higher; professional scoffers mock the mourners. The prisoners' wailing is heard for many miles around; Apathetic listeners draw not nigh to comfort the lamenters. From pole to pole and to the earth's center, Grief and lamentation and dark death abound. So long as Mars' gory citadel stands, His imbrued gonfalon flutters in the breeze, There will be war and rumors of war on all lands and seas, The cannon's resonant boom heard throughout our homelands. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DR. SCUDDER'S CLINICAL LECTURE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 3. AMARYLLIS by THOMAS CAMPION A DAY DREAM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE HABIT OF PERFECTION by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN: THE FIRST DAY: PAUL REVERE'S RIDE [APRIL 1775] by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE SWAMP ANGEL by HERMAN MELVILLE THE WORLD (1) by HENRY VAUGHAN |