FIVE SOULS
BY W. H. EWER
First Soul
I was a peasant of the Polish plain;
I left my plow because the message ran:
Russia, in danger, needed every man
To save her from the Teuton; and was slain.
I gave my life for freedom— This I know:
For those who bade me fight had told me so.
Second Soul
I was a Tyrolese, a mountaineer;
I gladly left my mountain home to fight
Against the brutal, treacherous Muscovite;
And died in Poland on a Cossack spear.
I gave my life for freedom— This I know:
For those who bade me fight had told me so.
Third Soul
I worked at Lyons at my weaver's loom,
When suddenly the Prussian despot hurled
His felon blow at France and at the world;
Then went I forth to Belgium and my doom,
I gave my life for freedom— This I know;
For those who bade me fight had told me so.
