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C J Dennis - War`s End Armistice Day 1935
Work rating: Medium

Greyer and older, still they stand
   Wearier, quieter, still they pray;
Men who had offered their all to a land.
   And their thoughts run back to an olden day
When Youth sailed gallantly, gaily forth --
   Romance for King, and faith to the fore --
To the older, bitterer lands of the north,
   To battle, that men might end all war.

Ageing Diggers, grown wiser now,
   Again they are dreaming before their shrine
Of the long-gone day when they made the vow
   With hearts uplifted, and eyes a-shine.
And thro` their dreaming there drifts to-day
   A newer note and a sad refrain,
As their thoughts return to that bitter fray:
   "Was it all in vain?  Was it all in vain?"

Soberer, sterner, still they hear
   Endless thunder of vengeful guns
Echoing out of a long dead year.
   And, "God," they pray, "must these our sons
Learn over again all we`d fain forget?
   Buy over again their need of peace
Live over again worse madness yet?
   Is earth`s grim agony never to cease?"

Ageing Diggers before their shrine:
   "Is there never a respite, no release?
We who have suffered look for a sign.
   Is there never a hope for a lasting peace?
We who have known it all before:
   The madness, agony, needless pain --
We who once battled to end all war --
   Was it all in vain?  Was it all in vain?"
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