The Two Crosses

No iron cross, no iron cross

     No iron cross for me;

It stands for treachery, for dross,

     For death and misery.

No iron cross – ‘tis honor stained,

     The deathblow to the free;

A mockery for pottage gained –

     No iron cross for me.

No, in its place I fain would rest

     With the heroic dead,

And have above my peaceful breast

     A wooden cross instead.

A rough-hewed soldier’s wooden cross

     Upon a shell-scarred lea;

Such gain could not be counted loss –

     No iron cross for me!

Nov. 26, 1917