Men may elect to do, or not to do.
In military operations, they
Have no alternative, but to obey.
Ah! Fain, from that impending holocaust
Would I have snatched them! Rather had I lost
The tinselled honors and the epaulettes,
And doffed my uniform without regrets,
Than harm by word or deed that agèd sire;
Yet I must start, who fain would quench the fire.
I read and read that cipher message there,