AN EX-KING SPEAKS

Twenty years after the Battle of Verdun

I speak tonight from Verdun

Where the bones of dead horses lie;

Breaking the years of silence,

I give this warning cry.

I speak tonight from Verdun

And the wraiths of the radiant dead

Rise at the call of battle

And gather about my head.

I speak the shadows beckon,

And misery grows apace;

I cry for peace and safety

In terms of the human race.

I speak tonight from Verdun

That terrors of war may cease;

Let there be understanding

Harmony, love, and peace.

I speak . . . the shadows lengthen.

May the years of carnage and pain

Known on the plains of Verdun

May never know man again.

I speak -- an aging soldier --

That carnage and madness and pain

Met on the fields of Verdun

May never know man again.

Only the powers of evil

Will win in the war-to-be;

Chaos and anarchy only

Will taste of that victory.

May 8, 1939