1914-08-19and 21aa

With the outbreak of war in August 1914, many Hamilton poets were stirred to express their patriotism and the eagerness of many Hamiltonians to serve.

Following are two poems, written by Hamiltonians, which appeared in the Hamilton Spectator that month.

The first was published on August 19, 1914.

 

Mobilization by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

         Oh, the Kings of earth have mobilized their men.

           See them moving, valor proving,

           To the fields of glory going.

           Every one a mother’s son

           Brave, with uniform and gun,

           Keeping step with easy swing ;

           Yes, with easy step and light, marching onward toward the fight,

           Just to please the warlike fancy of a King

           Who has mobilized his army for the strife.

 

           Oh, the King of Death has mobilized his men

           See the hearses, huge and black,

           How they rumble down the track

           With their coffins filled with dead.

           Filled with men who fought and bled ;

           Now from fields of glory coming

           To the sound of muffled drumming

           They are lying still and white,

           But the Kings have had their fight ;

           Death has mobilized his army for the grave.”

 

          The second poem was published two days later, August 21, 1914.

 

          The Emergency

 

At last the deaf begin to hear

   The blind begin to see ;

Gone is the day to conjure fear

   And talk emergency.

 

The menace of a tyrant’s power,

   Insane with lust and greed,

Is undisputed in this hour,

   For war has come, indeed.

With fury fierce, the clouds have burst

   In peaceful lands afar ;

And Europe is at last immersed

   In real and bloody war.

 

To gratify a knave’s desire

   And work a madman’s will,

Millions go forth with sword and fire

   To plunder and to kill.

 

Led by its murderous feudal lord,

   The earth to devastate,

This ‘German peril’ we’ve ignored

   Is thundering at our gate.

Away with words ! Let action tell !

   The loyalty we plead ;

And Canada in deeds excel,

   For Britain is in need.

 

To arms ! To arms ! Send forth thy sons,

   Give of thy golden store;

For hear ye not the distant guns ? –

   The world is plunged in war.

 

                                        Fritz Hermath

Hamilton, Ont.