Poem dedicated to Edith Cavell by Lewis V. Baker

"To the Memory of Edith Cavell"

"Oh, Kaiser Bill, you've shot your bolt, by this vile deed you've done;
It's just another sample of the 'Kultur' of the Hun.
Arise, ye sons of Briton, and this day join the fray,
For, by the murder of this girl, we're sure to win the day.

We do not want conscription, for defeat we have no fear;
Three million men we must procure beofre another year.
You've heard the message of your King and nobles of our land;
So haste to join your brothers and lend a helping hand.

Her work on earht was peace and love, without a thought of gain,
The mission of her saintly life, to ease our boys in pain.
Her comrades sadly miss her, the noblest of their band,
Who died that soldiers of her race might reach their native strand.

Alas! How many wounded "Passed" as you stood by their side,
But you will meet them "Over There" beyond the "Great Divide."
Oh, aged mother of this girl, we mourn with you to-day,
And, balm for your aching heart, sincerely do we pray.

Now, parent of this martyred child, we ask you not to cry,
A pure and Christian life like hers can never, never die.
Your husband, gone before you, ended his godly life,
Is waiting with his daughter to welcome "Home" his wife.

Oh, Monster! by whose hideous deeds, thou make'st our land to wail,
Tho'ust taken from us of our best, sister to "Nightingale."
We ask your help, Almighty God, in our most righteous cause,
And strength to break asunder, this trampler on your laws.

We'll raise a statue to her worth, of stone that won't decay,
And people in a thousand years will look back to this day.
The good folk of the future, when peaceful days return,
Will tell this fiendish story, with indignation burn.

Oh, noble nurse, we honour you, we grieve for you to-day,
For by thy act of Christlike love, you gave your life away.
And, Kaiser, may thy latest breath,
be quickly drawn in violent death.
When "Going Home" to burning Hell,
The mother's cries your funeral knell."

"LEWIS. V. BAKER
"A" Coy., A.S.C."

"9570"