The Great War (later renamed World War I) began on July 28, 1914. The rapid mobilization of armies carried the war forward until November 18, 1918. This poem shares a narrative voice of those decisive years.
Entangling treaties joining nations
Old school diplomacy’s fixation
Glorification of war’s romance
Titanic wills collide, ghostly dance
Distant continent boiling over
Single shot ignites war’s makeover
Ill-prepared, mortal combat waiting
Millions now face death, devastating
Modern weaponry overpowers
Military tactics of old sour
Now transforming nations’ fertile ground
Mankind’s killing fields, forever found
Privileged few making decisions
Common citizens fill divisions
Ruthless fighting in blood-filled trenches
Calling soldiers into death’s clenches
Exhausted nations, pushing ahead
World waiting for war’s sunset instead
Men, resources, and will running low
At last, reason stops war’s bloody flow
War to end all wars finally ends
Lasting peace stands ready to pretend
English writer, H. G. Wells (1866-1946), who is sometimes called the “Father of Science Fiction,” also provided social commentary. These words share his sentiments about war: “It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men’s lives should not stake their own.” “If we don’t end war, war will end us.”
Big Sky Buckeye 
Wow, this is good. 5-Star Excellence.
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Zelda, I appreciate your kindness. There is a part of me that appreciates history.
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Regarding “appreciating history”–I just heard a fabulous message at Gateway Church’s conference–it included a quote: “life is lived forward, but is understood backwards”, Kierkegaard.
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Kirkegard’s voice is an excellent one to read. Thanks for sharing this quote.
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My pleasure! Blessings to you 💖
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I remember as a kid I would look to see what important things happened on my birthday or what famous people were born on that day. Turns out, the war to end all wars began 51 years before I breathed my first breathe. And, sadly, the wars continue. I appreciate this post a lot. I love your poem and I really dig the quote about war at the end. You’ve planted the seeds for a future post or two of my own, so I’m even more grateful. Keep up the good work my friend.
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Awesome Ranier! It is wonderful that you will harvest some of these planted seeds. Sometimes my appreciation of history finds a voice in some of my writing.
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Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Mr. B…this has such a powerful flow! The kind of piece I would have liked to read as a Thespian in highschool. Little known fact about me—I was Wisconsin state gold medalist in poetry reading 1986.
“The war to end all wars”. We keep waiting for this to happen, and yet seem so terrified of it as well. What choice do we have? I wonder, if we viewed war not as fighting each other, but as fighting “principalities” would we feel differently?
Would we war differently? And where is the real battlefield? I believe it is our own minds. God’s Peace, Mr. B.
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Nina, thanks for sharing your love of poetry, either as a reader or a writer. Wow, there is a Thespian among us. My love and appreciation of history shows up in a poem once in awhile. Blessings to you as the week continues to unfold.
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Excellent poem. As I grow older I can see that war is nothinng more than man’s attempt at power. The political influences the social and the fear takes over. Minds become polluted and often fight for a cause they don’t believe in and they shed their blood for it. The only hope for peace in this world is Jesus.
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Kathy, your words are wise. Indeed, our best hope for peace rests with our faith in Jesus. Blessings to you and Paul as the week moves along.
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Sobering and well done poem about WW1
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Jim, I appreciate your thoughts. Once in awhile, I need an outlet for my love of history. War is indeed sobering.
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👍
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