The Poetry of Patton

The Curse Of Kant (1917)

The papers publish sob-stuff
And drool of the horrors of strife
They speak of the fallen as murdered
And lie about us and our life.

But we who are in it know better
There still is a glory to war
The death which one dies for Country
Is nobler than ever before.

The wolf which fights not for her litter
The man who resents not a blow
The nation which makes mock of glory
Shall perish in limitless woe.

Men who have struggled as heroes
Men who have suffered and bled
Men who have frozen and hungered
Should be honored, living or dead.

But ours who have prated of ethics
And cringed at the sufferings of strife
Dishonor their land and their women
And the pains which have given them life.

The youth who dies for his country
But follows the teachings of God
Giving life that others may prosper
He treads as his Savior trod.

Then seek not in maudlin pity
To regret those nobly slain
Who die in their land's service
Have never lived in vain.

For those whose lives are spent in lust
Of ease or wealth or food
Whose souls have rotted e'er they died
Whose deaths have done no good.

For such set up your woeful howls
For such pour forth your prayers
The brave who dies needs not your sighs
Nor for your pity cares.

Let papers cease to mourn the lost
Mourn fights we do not gain
Instead of mulling o'er the dead
Enlist! Replace the slain.

George S. Patton (1885-1945) Stephen Cutter Clark's School for Boys


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer