These Fought in Any Case in  General   

These fought in any case,
and some believing
pro domo, in any case .....

Died some, pro patria,
walked eye-deep in hell
believing in old men's lies, then unbelieving
came home, home to a lie,
home to many deceits,
home to old lies and new infamy;
usury age-old and age-thick
and liars in public places.

Daring as never before, wastage as never before.
Young blood and high blood,
fair cheeks, and fine bodies;

fortitude as never before

frankness as never before,
disillusions as never told in the old days,
hysterias, trench confessions,
laughter out of dead bellies.

By Ezra Pound

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Other poems by Ezra Pound:

• A Girl
• A Pact
• A Virginal
• Alba
• An Immorality
• And the days are not full enough
• Ballad for Gloom
• Before Sleep
• Cantico del Sole
• Canto I
• Canto XIII
• Canto XLIX
• Cino
• Dance Figure
• Envoi
• Epilogue
• Ezra on the Strike
• Fan-Piece, For Her Imperial Lord
• Francesca
• from "Hugh Selwyn Mauberly"
• Further Instructions
• Grace Before Song
• Historion
• Hugh Selwyn Mauberly (Part I)
• In A Station Of The Metro
• In Tempore Senectutis
• In the Old Age of the Soul
• Invern
• Ione, Dead the Long Year
• Ité
• La Regina Avrillouse
• Lament of the Frontier Guard
• Masks
• Medallion
• Meditatio
• Nicotine
• Notes for Canto CXX
• Quies
• Salutation
• Sestina: Altaforte
• Silet
• Song
• Song in the Manner of Housman
• Song of the Bowmen of Shu
• Statement of Being
• Sub Mare
• Taking Leave of a Friend
• Tame Cat
• The Bath-Tub
• The Encounter
• The Fault of It
• The Garden
• The Garret
• The Lake Isle
• The Logical Conclusion
• The Needle
• The Plunge
• The Return
• The Seafarer
• The Seeing Eye
• The Summons
• The Tree
• These Fought in Any Case
• Villanelle: The Psychological Hour
• Villonaud for This Yule