What do you think of Mark Twain's War Prayer?

Question

From the Washington Monthly:
In 1904, disgusted by the aftermath of the Spanish-American War and the subsequent Philippine-American War, Mark Twain wrote a short anti-war prose poem called “The War Prayer.” His family begged him not to publish it, his friends advised him to bury it, and his publisher rejected it, thinking it too inflammatory for the times. Twain agreed, but instructed that it be published after his death, saying famously:

“None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth.”



“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.
O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells.
Help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead.
Help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain.
Help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire.
Help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief.
Help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it.
For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts.
Amen.”

Answer 1

I have read this before and I think it is one of the finest pieces of literature ever written! Mark Twain is a true American Hero.

Answer 2

Jo O ,"... peace and love and all that crap..." You sound like a bundle of sunshine ! lol 1. One other problem was that we didn't go all out to win the war . We used draftees to put pressure on the North to agree to a peace treaty . Didn't happen . 2. Also the concept (The Domino Effect )for going to war in Vietnam was as bogus as the WMD reason for us going into Iraq . Most College educated and other people who investigated the reasons for being in Viet Nam realized the real reasons for being there were not only bad , but immoral . 3. Young people in America were horrified at being drafted (Epecially when peace, love and all that good music was happening at home in the USA ) for a war they felt their country initiated (The Tokin Gulf incident not withstanding ) . 4. And finally as a result of 1. too many Americans were dying .

Answer 3

War is hell and rightly so. The more terrible the better. Hopefully, it will dissuade those who would start one. May their women and children suffer terribly. May they die horribly. Maybe then they will decide it is not worth it.

There are still some groups such as today's terrorists that have not learned this lesson. Probably due to the approach to war that limits collateral damage. If we heap death and distruction down on the aggressors at ten times the rate they can on us, they will find something more productive to do than attack the United States.

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Answer 4

Anti-war? Really? It sounds like to me that he's praying that God will help us smite down the enemy! How is that "anti-war"? We all hate war, but we pray that we defeat the enemy. Leave it to a Lib to twist the whole meaning.