Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.

War
(From “Songs of Joy”)

Davies, William Henry

William H. Davies

(An English poet whose “Autobiography of a Super-tramp” was given to the world with an introduction by Bernard Shaw)

YE Liberals and Conservatives,

Have pity on our human lives,

Waste not more blood on human strife;

Until we know some way to use

This human blood we take or lose,

’Tis sin to sacrifice our life.

When pigs are stuck we save their blood

And make puddings for our food,

The sweetest and the cheapest meat;

And many a woman, man and boy

Have ate those puddings with great joy,

And oft-times in the open street.

Let’s not have war till we can make,

Of this sweet life we lose or take,

Some kind of pudding of man’s gore;

So that the clergy in each parish

May save the lives of those that famish

Because meat’s dear and times are poor.