Classic Poem

" Only a scrap of paper,"
Cried the haughty Prussian lord,
" What matters a written promise
Compared with strife and the sword?"
But an Empire's sons made answer,
" We can fight, we have fought before,"
And because of a " scrap of paper"
There is half a world at war.

" Only a scrap of paper,
Come forward and name your price,
Be it treaties, lands, or commerce,
We will make the sacrifice."
But the bribe was with scorn rejected,
As the threat had been before,
And because of a " scrap of paper"
There is half a world at war.

" Only a scrap of paper!
Why squander British lives,
Why follow the trail of horror,
With weeping children and wives?"
God knows the price is heavy,
It fills the soul with awe!
Yet because of a " scrap of paper"
There is half a world at war.

Oh, not for the lust of conquest,
And not for the greed of gain,
It is just to keep her honour,
That Britain's sons lie slain.
It is only a " scrap of paper,"
But it's signed with Britain's name,
The promise kept spells Honour,
The promise broken — Shame!

Some day when on page of history
The truth of these days is told,
We shall find it a chapter of glory,
Recorded in letters of gold.
We'll rejoice that we kept the promise,
Though the heavy price was war;
For though only a " scrap of paper"
It was Britain's name it bore.

And if the Recording Angel,
In that land where Angels sing,
Keeps an Honour Roll of Nations
In the archives of the King,
Then through all the countless ages
Will be shown in Heaven's lore
How just for a " scrap of paper"
An Empire went to war.