Two Sides of War
All wars are planned by older men
In council rooms apart,
Who call for greater armament
And map the battle chart.
But out along the shattered field
Where golden dreams turned gray,
How very young the faces were
Where all the dead men lay.
Portly and solemn in their pride,
The elders cast their vote
For this or that, or something else,
That sounds the warlike note.
But where their sightless eyes stare out
Beyond life’s vanished joys,
I’ve noticed nearly all the dead
Were hardly more than boys.
-Grantland Rice
Henry Grantland ‘Grantland’ Rice was born on 1 November 1880 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States of America. He was an American newspaperman and sports writer. He is known for his book of sports poetry, “Songs of the Stalwart” (1917). Henry Grantland ‘Grantland’ Rice passed on at 73 years of age on 13 July 1954 in New York City, New York, United States of America. The Grantland Rice online memorial is at https://goo.gl/D4Tkym.
All wars are planned by older men
In council rooms apart,
Who call for greater armament
And map the battle chart.
But out along the shattered field
Where golden dreams turned gray,
How very young the faces were
Where all the dead men lay.
Portly and solemn in their pride,
The elders cast their vote
For this or that, or something else,
That sounds the warlike note.
But where their sightless eyes stare out
Beyond life’s vanished joys,
I’ve noticed nearly all the dead
Were hardly more than boys.
-Grantland Rice
Henry Grantland ‘Grantland’ Rice was born on 1 November 1880 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States of America. He was an American newspaperman and sports writer. He is known for his book of sports poetry, “Songs of the Stalwart” (1917). Henry Grantland ‘Grantland’ Rice passed on at 73 years of age on 13 July 1954 in New York City, New York, United States of America. The Grantland Rice online memorial is at https://goo.gl/D4Tkym.
