Cheyenne record., 1918-09-12
nun POETS FI|IL !
On WlR GuEssEs
kaiser,s Writers Prove 10 Bs
Very Poor Prophses
fliIllK ~ TRUE kULTuR VEIN

Fseselse Only ssssss - Merry Nari
q 9nd q Whleh essa4 ossinan
Hoses WIN D csnqvssses
u tiss Wsrid.
~ EARL DERR DloogRo.
ORE ths.cosnmittas On Public Infsema-
tioa, Washington. D. CO.
Speaking Of Gsrmans-as whe. - not
thess daysf-a celebrated French poet.
Jean Aicard. has hit upon rather
neat and happy hgure Of speech. In .
long and eloquent poem about the war.
after he has described how the Ger
man horde, coming forward with
God" ~ they put it. swept down ON
Paris. and has pictured them banned
and beaten by the miracle OF the
Narus, he further recalls how-'.hav-
lng prepared themselves In France .
terriers hole"-they
| Intrsnchsd themselves therein, defeated.
driven, hurled
1sek b tie sword Of France and scornsd
BY all the world
And then what happenedf Let Al
card tell It:
There. n ths,r nlthy holes. th.'r natural
A. livss ths hunted boar. the crouehins
soldiers at: ~ Il
Ard E. putrid pool s1haiss an evil
Thsy poured their poi1ons forth straight
from the NAV Of he1.
Dsdied the blue Of heaven and made the
virgin sair
= party to the crime thsy psrpetrated
there,
The choking gas that rose. msphitic. from
was yssy NE ths breath ana oder Of
their souls.
The odor Of their soulst The pres
ent writer must confess that this
simile strikes him as = remarkably
1it and appropriate one.
Today We know only too well the
odor Of their souls, and we arc deter
mined DO send e4r men over TO th0s4
holes In ErancA q 1tsinfecS them with
fhe only saexleeaSle ahtissptics the
bayonet and ths bullet. Everythins
that keeps that odor strong In our NOS
trils win b of help In the salvation
of or coantxy. since It WfI1 keep NJ
drm In cur detcrrnination TO do or die.
90 cne = Inclined to fesl that Prot.
81. g. 0rumbtne Of Clark university,
who has recently translated into very
readable Nhsiish the war poetry Of
France and Germany. has done this
country . patriotic service. Professor
Grumbine knows that nowhere arc the
ideals Of nation more clearly re-
vealed than Ia its literature, and he
adds that literature In its purest form
ls poetry. 30 he has gone to the poets
Of the two countries to discover what
was In their minds In the early days Of
the war. With an ardent desire to be
fair, he has not chosen verses which
prove any particular point for him.
but has sought to confine himself to
the leading and the representative
bards. In Germany such. men as Su-
dermann. Lissauer, and Herxog; in
France, Boutrel and Aicard, the for.
mer q laureate and the latter mem
Der Of the French academy. And hav-
Ing translated the verses Of these men
he has drawn some logical and illu-
minating conclusions regarding the
German god and the French god. the
German soul and the soul Of the
French. X,
,orurnblnsis Deductions.
Let ms glance for q moment over
Professor Grumbine's shoulder at the
translations he has made; then briefly
let us consider his conclusions. II the
matter strikes You, dear reader, as
academic and-dread word-iterary,
be assured that 1t viii not be treated
hero In either academic or literary
fashion. Professor Grumbine opens
the door for you. and you wander with
him through that dark hinterland-
German mind; he leads you on to the
heights where the French thinker sits.
When. much to the surprise Of
everybody in Germany. war was de-
ciared the German soldier immediate
" rushed to his locker. where every
thing was ready for him. including a
canteen Oiled with fresh water. Stimuli
taneously the German poet rushed to
his fountain pen uhich-God and the
kaiser forgot nothing also filed,
not with water, but with q venomous
liquid that flowed red, like blood. This
war has reminded NJ that It Is not the
man who fights In the field who L. the
true master Of hate and bitterness; II
IL tho highly educated and cultured
thinker ut home who screams loudest
and foams most freely at the lips.
II ths German poets had been for Q
moment ut 4 loss ~ to what view to
take Of the war. Of course the German
government would have set them right
,CrherA was that naive Dewspaper In
Munich which at the start pleaded
pathetfcaliy for the government b
~take charge Of pebble opinions) One
could 1aney< sofns such aAvsrtissment
in the Berlin papers: ~Gernnan poetD
wm call at the Wuhelmstrasss b..
fweaa two and four On Thursday -
Geeae their points ek visw % -
var. HewessF, i = i1cse1ah1e ~