The Price of War Forward men! the captain cried And forth they rode, and fell, and died Their blood that marred the stony ground Was trampled soon; beneath the sound Of horses' hooves and cries and shouts And clashing steel all about A terrible confusion reigned So striking out at all who came And through the haze a cry was heard And silence then from beast and bird Except the groans and morbid cries Of horse and man, and buzzing flies And death and horror filled the mind And many there could never find A pleasant dream of happiness In life again or in the next A sadness plagued the very souls Of men as they cut down the boles Of mighty trees that bore the flame That took the bodies of the slain And battles long forgotten still Pass legacies left unfulfilled And some of us cannot forget The price of war that haunts us yet.