Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THERE IS BUT ONE, by CHARLES LOUIS HENRY WAGNER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THERE IS BUT ONE, by                    
First Line: I have sung of blood and battle
Last Line: Have I made my lesson plain?
Subject(s): Clergy; Good; Religion; World War I; Priests; Rabbis; Ministers; Bishops; Theology; First World War


The editor-in-chief of Le Matin, the famous newspaper of Paris told in
Boston the other day of a Catholic priest, an Episcopal clergyman and a Jewish
rabbi, who as chaplains lived together in a dugout. After a battle they divided
the work of giving the last rites to dying soldiers without stopping to
determine the religious affiliations of the fallen men. There were so many
dying, and the time for giving them spiritual aid and comfort was so furiously
short! The French editor vouched for the story of a rabbi who held the crucifix
to the lips of an expiring Catholic! It is a triumph of humanness to fling forms
aside amid men gasping their last breath. In such surroundings the appeal of
essential realities dwarfs mortal views and ways. To stay the passing soul on
the supreme goal of all religions becomes the quick, mastering passion of any
man with a heart in him.—From a Daily Paper.

I have sung of blood and battle,
Roar and rattle,
Men like cattle
Slain;
And the daily News has vaunted
Heroes who Death's blooms have flaunted,
And who've borne with smiles, undaunted,
Pain.

And heroic deeds have thrilled me,
Some have dared all Hell, and filled me
With a wonder that has stilled me
Quite;
But the brightest stars in Glory
Dim beside those of this story,
Men, but Christ-men, through the gory
Night!

Let me tell my story simply,
Let me tell it well.
Typical, and not a feature,
Rabbi, Priest and surpliced Preacher
Shared a "Dugout" home 'midst creature
Men,
Where the guns and shells were shrieking,
All the Hates in War bespeaking,
Oh, I see that marked, blood-reeking
Den!

There they labored with their brothers,
Helped each other, and with others
Ministered, and wrote to mothers
Hope,
Healed the wounds of flesh and spirit,
Walked with Death, and did not fear it,
Hand in hand with those who, near it,
Grope.

When one battle's rage was ended,
Through the night these three attended
Those whose wounds for them portended
Death;
Time was short and moments fleeting,
Who could tell what creeds were meeting
Life Eternal in retreating
Breath?

List to this, oh, Reader; listen
Tell it to your kin at home.

How the Jewish Rabbi, pressing
Crucifix to lips professing
Papist hopes, and heard confessing
Sweet;
Gave in Love God's consolation,
Flung aside Man's figuration,
Made ALL faiths in exultation
Meet!

Oh, the lesson in this story,
ONENESS in men's death and glory,
Fraternizing all our hoary
Creeds;
Why not learn of this, my brothers?
Teach it, oh, ye fathers, mothers,
See the common God in others'
Deeds!

Have I made my lesson plain?





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