Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ROBBED (LEAGUE OF NATIONS REPUDIATED BY U.S. SENATE) by ETHELEAN TYSON GAW

First Line: I RODE AT DAWN A CHEVALIER OF GOD
Last Line: BUT—SO MUCH CANNON FODDER LEFT TO ROT.
Subject(s): LEAGUE OF NATIONS; UNITED STATES - CONGRESS - SENATE; WAR;

@3The Senate repudiates the whole League of Nations idea.@1—Senator Lodge

I rode at dawn a chevalier of God,
Lifting the blazon of a glad new day;
At golden dusk all gladly down I lay
On Flanders Field, beneath the trampled sod,
My winding sheet a starry web of dreams,
Its woof, a world made safe from war's red ban,
Its warp, a deathless Brotherhood of Man,
Its purpled fringe of high hope's rainbowed gleams.

But knaves have stolen that knightly winding sheet,
Twisting its strands to make a trap of lies.
Scorned is the Splendid Quest, the Dream forgot.
Shroudless I sink in ultimate defeat,
No chevalier of God on high emprise,
But—so much cannon fodder left to rot.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net