The Kings

Item

The Kings

THE Kings are dying! In blood and flame

Their sun is setting to rise no more!

They have played too long at the ancient game

Of their bluer blood and the bolted door.

Now the blood of their betters is on their hands--

The blood of the peasant, the child, the maid

And there are no waters in all the lands

Can bathe them clean of the dark stain laid.

They have sinned in malice and craven fear-

For the sake of their tinsel have led us on

To the hate-built trench and the death-drop sheer,

But the day will come when the Kings are gone.

The Kings are dying! Beat, O drums,

The world-wide roll of the democrat!

O bugles, cry out for the day that comes

When the Kings that were shall be marveled at!

Title
The Kings
Identifier
greatwar_Eaton121
Media
<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Kings</h1><p class="byline"> HUGH J. HUGHES <br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/><span class="smallcaps">IN Farm, Stock And Home</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">THE Kings are dying! In blood and flame </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Their sun is setting to rise no more! </p><p class="line">They have played too long at the ancient game </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Of their bluer blood and the bolted door.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Now the blood of their betters is on their hands--</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The blood of the peasant, the child, the maid </p><p class="line">And there are no waters in all the lands</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Can bathe them clean of the dark stain laid.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">They have sinned in malice and craven fear-</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">For the sake of their tinsel have led us on </p><p class="line">To the hate-built trench and the death-drop sheer,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">But the day will come when the Kings are gone.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The Kings are dying! Beat, O drums,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The world-wide roll of the democrat!</p><p class="line">O bugles, cry out for the day that comes</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">When the Kings that were shall be marveled at! </p></div></body></html>