War
(From “Songs of Joy”)
By William H. Davies
(An English poet whose “Autobiography of a Super-tramp” was given to the world with an introduction by Bernard Shaw)
Ye Liberals and Conservatives,
Have pity on our human lives,
Waste not more blood on human strife;
Until we know some way to use
This human blood we take or lose,
’Tis sin to sacrifice our life.
When pigs are stuck we save their blood
And make puddings for our food,
The sweetest and the cheapest meat;
And many a woman, man and boy
Have ate those puddings with great joy,
And oft-times in the open street.
Let’s not have war till we can make,
Of this sweet life we lose or take,
Some kind of pudding of man’s gore;
So that the clergy in each parish
May save the lives of those that famish
Because meat’s dear and times are poor.