"There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization..."
"These Fought in Any Case"
by Ezra Pound
These fought in any case,
and some believing
pro domo, in any case .....
Died some, pro patria,*
walked eye-deep in hell
believing in old men's lies, then unbelieving
came home, home to a lie,
home to many deceits,
home to old lies and new infamy;
usury age-old and age-thick
and liars in public places.
Daring as never before, wastage as never before.
Young blood and high blood,
fair cheeks, and fine bodies;
fortitude as never before
frankness as never before,
disillusions as never told in the old days,
hysterias, trench confessions,
laughter out of dead bellies.
*The famous line from one of Horace's "Odes":
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ("Sweet and fitting it is to
die for one's country.")
"Daring as never before, wastage as never before."
