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[Devilsadvocate]

Hope you enjoy this...

Und nun, liebe kinder, gebt fein acht:
Die wahrheit wird zu sand gemacht!
...Den streut man jenen in die Augen
die niemals fragen- alles glauben...
Die volle wahrheit zu ertragen
steht jenen an die Fragen fragen-
Nur dem der sie zu stellen wagt:
Und Gott hilf dem der Fragen fragt!

(My children- come and see this land
were truth has long since turned to sand
which wind will blow into the eyes
of those who never question lies...
The truth to bear is for those men
who dare to question- and who then
make asking their most pressing task:
And God help those who dare to ask...)

W.J.B

All material marked "W. J. B" is my own; anyone wanting to make use of this- feel free to do so (except commercial use, that is); just don't remove the "W.J.B", please. -Devilsadvocate-

This post has been edited by Devilsadvocate: Oct 6 2007, 11:36 AM

[Devilsadvocate]

For Tocarm:
"The green fields of France" (Irish traditional)

"Well- how do you do, young Willie McBride;
do you mind if i sit here, down by your gravesite-
and rest for a while 'neath the warm summer-sun;
I've been walking all day, and i'm nearly done...
I can see by your gravestone you were only nineteen,
when you joined the great falling in nineteen-sixteen;
so i hope you died well, and i hope you died clean-
or, young Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?"
(Refrain:)
Did they beat the drums slowly,
did they play the fifes lowly-
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play the 'last post' in chorus-
did the pipes play 'the flowers o' the forest?

"And did you leave there a wife or a sweetheart behind:
In some faithful heart, is your memory enshrined?
And- though you died back in nineteen-sixteen,
in some faithful heart, are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
enclosed and forever behind a glassframe-
in an old photograph, torn, battered and stained,
and faded to yellow, in a brown leather-frame?"
(Refrain)

"The sun now, it shines on the green fields of france,
and a mild summer's breeze makes the red poppies dance;
and look how the sun shines from under the clouds:
There's no gas, no barbed wire- there's no gun firing now...
But here in this graveyard, it's still 'no-mans-land'-
the countless white crosses stand mute in the sand:
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man-
to a whole generation that was butchered and damned..."
(Refrain)

"But young Willie McBride- I can't help wonder: Why?
And did those who lie here know why they did die?
Did they really believe when they answered the call-
did they really believe that this war would end wars?
But the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain-
the killing and dying were all done in vain:
For, young Willie McBride, it all happened again-
and again, and again, and again, and again..."
(Refrain)

This post has been edited by Devilsadvocate: Mar 25 2007, 09:54 PM