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The Battle of Verdun

March 11, 2011
By Anasunny SILVER, Florissant, Missouri
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Anasunny SILVER, Florissant, Missouri
5 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die.<br /> ~ Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred Lord Tennyson

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One voice, one cry, one song to shatter,
One heart, one soul, beaten and battered,
One fight, one roar, one battle call
And thousands more to join them all;

An insignia enthused upon unlawful power
Patterns of bomb shells like meteor showers
Dotting the ground, the sky bursting in crying
Screams tossed back and forth like dead bodies flying;

Fearsomely colored, the ground painted by scarlet,
The remnants weakened and sadly disheartened,
No joyous passion emboldened the fray
Only “Vous ne les laisserez pas passer!”

Bitter was their endurance with which they still burned
And each wasted casualty was cruelty learned,
That emboldened them to kill lacking mind
All moral conscience long since turned blind.

Truly, does hate, past kindness, transcend
So neighbors and brothers pit friend versus friend,
And splatter the heavens with blood flowing free -
Is war the absence of humanity?

© Steve A., New Port Richey, FL

The author's comments:
The Battle of Verdun is infamous for being long and cruel, with over 300,000 casualties. It occurred in World War I, in the year of 1916.
It provokes some strong controversy surrounding anti-war sentiments and those against war. It is seen as proof, as evidence of war's cruelty... but you can decide whether it really is or isn't.
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