South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-05-12

eI3qUelI poem WaT,
seribsd bow JheGerman horde. coming forward with
God" as they put IT, swept Paris has pic
tured them bahed and beaten by the miracle the
Marne. he further recalls how-"havins prepared
themselves in France terriers hole"-they
IntrencheJ themselves therein defeated driven hur-
Back by the sword OF France and scorned by all the
world.
And then what happened? Let Aicard tell it,
There. in their filthy holes their natural habitat
AS lives boar the crouching soldiers
And, as putrid pool exhales evil smell.
They their posons forth straight from the
OF hell
DehIed blue OF heaven virgin
party 10 the crime they perpe.rated there
The CHOKING that rose. mephtc from their holes
Was very like the breath and odor of their souls
The odor of their souls! The present writer must
confess that this smile strikes him a remarkably
mt and appropriate That German of the
early days that settled terrier hole France!
Lght-heartedly had murdered and raped, it had
burned and piiaged it had shot old men and cut off
the hands of little children marched onward with
God! Why not-victory by Christmas, and who shouru
10 account? a ne something
happened Perhaps that point the imperial
suffered great disaster In the shape of divine de-
sertion Perhaps God sick at what He had SEEN went
to the French!
At any rate the forces of the royal butcher
a dead stop and sought their hole Quick from that
hole arose the fumes of poison gas. like some couu
hell over No-Man's land it travelled the
trenches the defenders there grip honest by
the throat and srange them in a horrible death. How
like. indeed the odor of the Teuton soul!
We have been slow to this point Of view
in our broad and kindly country Horrible tales came
to us from overseas but we couldn't believe them they
Travelled far-they must have got distorted
way! beasts We couldn't picture
of our noets-tbe late linn RiIev for instance VINO
lived a lilac bordered street in indianapolis
loved children so-we couldn't picture him writing
hymn of hate. We couldn't imasine boys-the
over into another country to dehe women and murder
babies Ridiculous! And for Germans-why. old
Fritz who mended shoes the corner, genial
friendly fellow. 1t couldn't be that he inwardD
gloatng 1.-THE Lusitania
GET TRUE WIuFF OF GERMAN SoUD.
And then. slowly but surely, began get a
whin Of the German soul. we began to understand
that Atlantic barrier to passage poi
We read the zimmerman letter and sudden
~ realized that the gas rising the German
embassy washington We industries de-
sSroyed. listened German lies knew
that the poisonous odor the German
abroad in land and that if did not comoat
il it would strangle our own freedom, our own happ-
And went 10 war.
Today we know only too well the odor of their sous
and we are determined TO send our men over TO those
holes n France disinfect them wi only
viceable antiseptics-the bayonet and the bullet Ev
erythng that that strong nosrrs will
of help in the salvation country. il will
keep firm in determination to do die.
80 one is inclined to feel that Prof. H. c. Grumbine
OF Clark university, who has recently translated into
very readable Enslish the poetry of France
Germany, has done this country patriotic service.
Prof Grumbine AnOws that nowhere the ideals of
nation clearly revealed than in its literature,
that literature purest poerr>.
so he has gone to the poets of the countries to
discover what was in their minds in the early days Of
the With an ardent desire TO be fair, he has not
him. but has sought to conhne himself to the eading
nc representative bards. Germany such
as Sudermann, Lissauer and Herzog; in France Bou-
Aicard the former laureate and the latter
a member OF the French academy And having trans
lated the OF these he has drawn lost
,al and illuminating conclusions regarding the German
soul and the soul of the French.
glance for moment Prof. Grumbne's
SHOULDER at the transations he has made; then briefly
consider his conclusions If the strikes
you. dear reader as academic and-dread word-lit-
be assured that it Will not be treated here
either academic literary fashion. Prof Grup:bine
the door FOR you and you wander with him
through that hnterland-the German mind: he
leads you the heights where the French thinker
many. declared the German soldier immediate
rushed to his locker. where everything was ready
for. including canteen hlled with fresh water. ST
mutaneousy the German poet rushed TO his fountain
pen which-GOd and the kaiser forgot nOthng--was
also hed. not with water but with a venOnous liquid
flowed red. like blood. This has reminded
that II is not the man who fights i'm the field who is the
true OF hate and bitterness it is the highly
Gated and cultured thinker at home who loud
asd foams most freely at the lips
the poets had been a moment at
loss as what view take of the war,
German government would have them right CThere
that naive new paper n Munich which at the starr
pleaded pathetically for the government TO take
of public opinion one could fancy
such advertisement In the Berlin papers: German
poets "a the WilheImstrasse between and >
on Thursday their points OF the
However, IL is improbable the German poets needed
any instruction They thought about the JUS.
what kaiser wanted them think, what he his
kind had training the whole German nation.
poets included. for years think They greeted the
catastrophe WIKI mighty cIy cry partly OF hate for
CSermany's enemies. partly OF JOY that "a last
Gerrnanys hour had struck Wrote enthusiastic
bard
Hurrahi Hip hurrah Away with all labor.
1t is war! Bloody war; Get your rifle and saoer!
CHARACTERISTIC or EARLY WAR POETRY
This hip-hurrah greeting for bloody war was char
Of frFr Inc 4rf, mar ars