Front matter
Reading edition
AUTHOR OF 'THE LEE SHORE,' 'THE MAKING OF A BIGOT,' ETC.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
Printed in 1916
TO MY BROTHER AND OTHER COMBATANTS
'Let the foul scene proceed: There's laughter in the wings: 'Tis sawdust that they bleed, But a box Death brings. Gigantic dins uprise! Even the gods must feel A smarting of the eyes As these fumes upsweal. Strange, such a Piece is free, While we Spectators sit Aghast at its agony, Yet absorbed in it. Dark is the outer air, Cold the night draughts blow, Mutely we stare, and stare At the frenzied show. Yet heaven has its quiet shroud Of deep and starry blue— We cry "An end!" we are bowed By the dread "'Tis true!" While the Shape who hoofs applause Behind our deafened ear Hoots—angel-wise—"the Cause!" And affrights even fear.' Walter de la Mare, The Marionettes.
'War is just the killing of things and the smashing of things. And when it is all over, then literature and civilisation will have to begin all over again. They will have to begin lower down and against a heavier load.... The Wild Asses of the Devil are loose, and there is no restraining them. What is the good, Wilkins, of pretending that the Wild Asses are the instruments of Providence, kicking better than we know? It is all evil.'
Reginald Bliss, Boon.
'There is work for all who find themselves outside the battle.'
Romain Rolland, Above the Battle.