04 March 2006

A DEAD STATESMAN


It is the old Tory, Kipling, who gets it, surprisingly, right. This is one of his Epitaphs of the War (i.e., the First World War):

I could not dig: I dared not rob:
Therefore I lied to please the mob.
Now all my lies are proved untrue
And I must face the men I slew.
What tale shall serve me here among
Mine angry and defrauded young?


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