Quote#War
The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls
Quote byArthur Guiterman · 1871–1943
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness", in The New Yorker (March 22, 1930) p. 28.
English (original)
The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls Of mastodons, are billiard balls.The sword of Charlemagne the Just Is Ferric Oxide, known as rust.The grizzly bear, whose potent hug Was feared by all, is now a rug.Great Caesar's bust is on the shelf, And I don't feel so well myself!
— Arthur Guiterman
More from Arthur Guiterman
The Fawns don't dine When a Wolf's about, And the Porcupine Puts his quill points out.
Of all cold words of tongue or pen The worst are these: "I knew him when ——"
Amœbas at the start Were not complex; They tore themselves apart, And started Sex.
They earned a name that lives in song, Those woodsmen stout and plucky Whose hair and rifles both were long— The Hunters of Kentucky.
'Tis Sex that rules the lives Of clowns and kings; It gives us books and wives And other things—Ambition, love and strife And all the ills And ecstacies of life,
The Antiseptic Baby and the Prophylactic Pup Were playing in the garden when the Bunny gamboled up; They looked upon the Creature with a loathing undisguised;— It wasn't Disinfected and it wasn't Sterilized.