Claude McKay's Early Poetry (1911-1922): A Digital Collection

A Hero of the Wars



He couldn't fight the clever Huns in France;
They forced him to his knees and broke his lance.
​Therefore, the Politicians called him home
​To cool his poor, spurred heels and scheme and foam,
And spin a funny yarn of fairy snipers
And battles lost that made him clown of Ypres.
​But when at last the Prime Ass did determine
​To exterminate the wretched emerald vermine,
He sent him to the unregenerate isle,
​His honour to redeem in English style.
there is no rival now eager to rob
This hero of the English ruling classes,
Who failed in France, of his notorious job
​Of shooting down defenceless Irish masses.

​(Workers Dreadnought, April 24, 1920. Signed as Hugh Hope)
Edited and Proofread by Amardeep Singh)

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