The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-20
Han. Jensen Adamsen.)

me wal dl pIcSNHl ld6iIS III Lu-
rope has as yet not found its poet.
Among the warning nations no bard
has as yet arisen to above the peace
level. 1t seems indeed as if the poets
of the world are too depressed and
Stupetied by the enormousness of the
conflict and are suffering from a sense
Of i~nadequacy.
Poets, in the present age, ii seems
are not SO brutal and blOOdthirSty as
n minstrels of yore, who praised in
song the bloody deeds of sword and
arrow and lifted these from their
plane of mere slaughter to the acme
of heroic accomplishments.
A certain officer is alleged to have
fortificatiOn from the enemy. began to
cheer. Don't cheer, boys, Can't you
See the poor devils are dying"
Perhaps the reason for this silence
on the part Of the poets is becauSe
they are painfully aware of the fact
that the poor devils are dying And
when the songs burst forth, As they
there is not the slightest doubt u
hat it will not be songs to the glory
of battle and slaughter.
In the meantime. men by the thou
sands, or hundreds Of thousands, are
dying on the battlefields with the
words of songs Of the past upon their
lips and their melodies ringing in
their ears-"The Watch on the Rhine"
among the Germans. THE Marseil-
1aise" among the French and their
allies Some correspondent, Will lr-
win, i believe. who heard the German
soldiers sing The Watch on the
Rhine" while they were marching to
the front. called this great hymn "a
steel bar as against the rapier of THE
Mar5eillaise."
L do not see the comparison. The
Watch on the Rhine is old-fashioned
patriotism. 1t is flied with Germanic
determination. There is uncOnquer-
able vaIor in the words:
So long as the blod shall warm our
veins,
While for one sword n hand re-
mains,
One arm to bear a gun remains,
Shall foot of FOeman read thy shore?
Dear F'atherland. no fear be thine,
Firm stands thy guard along the
Rhine.
This hymn does not ven express
the present German attitude of
deutschland, Deutschland, owe all"
1.-The Watch on the Rhine" is a
hymn of German defiance to aggres.
SlOu duu CduuOt carry It's luIl klcd1lIlS.
save when n where the German de-
tends his country, instead Of sweeping
over the lads of others. When the
Rhine was the German frontier, and
Germany on the defensive, it was 9
perfect hymn, but at the present i
seems hardly appropriate. 1t may
not be unaptly compared with a stee
bar; but "The Marseillaise is IA
more than a rapier. 1t has what tn,
German hymn lacks, namely. a SO
Geological significance. 1t is a flood
a c~onhagration, a volcano. 1t is ire
sistibly compelling. Through all ages
among all nations, there a not a
any time been "a hymn one-half S,
expressive of destiny mo noble aspi
rations as in the lines:
Ye sons OF France. awake to glory,
Hark, bark, what myriads bid yo7
rise,
Your children. wives and grandsire
hoary-
Behold their tears and hear thei
Shall lawiess ~tyrants. mischief breed
ing.
With hireling host, a ruffian band.
Alright and desolate the land?
While peace and liberty lie bleeding /?
To arms, to arms, we brave!
The patriot sword unsheath.
O"p IA Oil lCol IL
Solved
On liberty or death.
THE Watch on the Rhine,"-worG
and music-is the best song in tn
world expressing nationality. 18th
Marseillaise" is the greatest inspirs
ton ever written by genius calling Q
man to rise against tyranny. It d
more for victory and liberty when
was new than a hundred thousan
soldiers in arms could have accor
plished. 1t made the armies of tt
revolution invincible. 1t is as magic
today in the French. English and b
gian trenches as it was a hundre
years ago. Saturated as it is with
divine madness, 1t sets the men wi
with q furious devOtion-not
F'rance-nOt to any flag. but to fire
dom. 1t is as powerful against IL
tyrant at home as against an invade
and should in the course Of time Il
German people come to fight for the