Versamelde gedigte

That innocent soul

‘The soul of Germany is still sound.’ - A Statesman.

‘Do let us bear in mind there are

Innumerable Germans who

Have never liked this hideous war,

And always loathed the Nazi crew...

Let us remember not to wound

Those kindly hearts, to ours allied,

The soul of Germany still is sound!’

Our caprine Grand Appeaser cried.

Yes, let's. There is no sense at all

In mourning over memories

Of little lapses that recall

What some might deem calamities.

The ‘soul’ that savaged Pole and Cjek,

That through red waves of torture swam,

That left of human lives a wreck

At Warsaw - Lidice - Rotterdam...

That outraged all men count sublime,

And worshipped all that evil breeds,

That wallowed in the putrid slime

Of treachery and brutish deeds...

Let's clasp it to our own and cling

(If such putrescence gives a hold)

To all it typifies and bring

A new world to replace the old...

A world where weakness is a sin,

And brutal strength the basic right,

[p. 432]

 

Where truth and justice never win

 

When matched against the Party's might...

 

There let us live - or such of us

 

As share this liking for a lie.

 

The rest, rather than make a fuss,

 

Would, like myself, far sooner die.