quote · Legacy record
Of all the murderous trades by mortals plied, ’Tis war alone that never violates The hallowed day by simulate respect— By hypocritic rest; no, no, the work proceeds, From sacred pinnacles are hung the flags That give the sign to slip the leash for slaughter, The bells whose knoll a holy calmness poured Into the good man’s breast, whose sound consoled The sick, the poor, the old—perversion dire! Pealing with sulphurous tongue, speak death-fraught words. From morn to eve destruction revels frenzied, Till at the hour when peaceful vesper chimes Were wont to sooth the ear, the trumpet sounds Pursuit, and flight altern; and for the song Of larks descending to their grass-bowered homes, The croak of flesh-gorged ravens, as they slake Their thirst in hoof-prints filled with gore, disturbs The stupor of the dying man; while death Triumphantly sails down the ensanguined stream, On corses, throned and crowned with shivered boughs, That erst hung imaged in the crystal tide.
Of all the murderous trades by mortals plied, ’Tis war alone that never violates The hallowed day by simulate respect— By hypocritic rest; no, no, the work proceeds, From sacred pinnacles are hung the flags That give the sign to slip the leash for slaughter, The bells whose knoll a holy calmness poured Into the good man’s breast, whose sound consoled The sick, the poor, the old—perversion dire! Pealing with sulphurous tongue, speak death-fraught words. From morn to eve destruction revels frenzied, Till at the hour when peaceful vesper chimes Were wont to sooth the ear, the trumpet sounds Pursuit, and flight altern; and for the song Of larks descending to their grass-bowered homes, The croak of flesh-gorged ravens, as they slake Their thirst in hoof-prints filled with gore, disturbs The stupor of the dying man; while death Triumphantly sails down the ensanguined stream, On corses, throned and crowned with shivered boughs, That erst hung imaged in the crystal tide.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Grahame (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 654 · printed citation: Grahame · subject: WAR
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.