Unstirring in the rapture of his thoughts
He slumbers in the wakeful watch
Of envy and desire!
AVENGE
Avenge! Avenge! Great sword of God,
The massacre of these
Ten thousand Polish soldier lads,
All hung from gallows’ trees.
Send down Thy angels armed with fire,
Send down Thy fiery lake,
Avenge the tortured, fiercely marred,
And killed for killing’s sake,
Brave prisoners of Guam, Bataan, Corregidor, and Wake!
O hasten, hasten, wrath of God!
Five times five thousand slain
In one red week of murderous lust,
New Christs, new cross, new pain!
Our patience and our mercy wait
While they who slaughter don’t.
Annihilate! Annihilate!
We’ll do it if You won’t!
THE CROSSING OF THE RHINE
And what is the talk we make tonight
As we fill our glasses amber bright
And drink to the guys who are in the fight,
The crossing of the Rhine.
And the song we sing is a simple thing
Of a tune that moves with a martial swing
To a set of words that have caught the ring,
The crossing of the Rhine.
We laugh and we jest, and we wish them well,
And then we remember the lads who fell
By blasted bridge and screaming shell,
The crossing of the Rhine.