America in the War / Each cartoon faced with a page of comment by a distinguished American, the text forming an anthology of patriotic opinion

Chapter 47: The Path of Kultur

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About This Book

A curated series of wartime political cartoons by the illustrator is presented alongside short essays, speeches, and comments from prominent American public figures, combining visual satire with patriotic commentary. The paired items argue against militarism and autocracy, depict enemy actions as moral threats, and urge national mobilization, justice, and international accountability. Organization alternates bold, satirical plates with reflective or polemical pages, offering a mosaic of themes—sacrifice, democracy, reparation, and the moral stakes of conflict—intended to sway public opinion and explain the case for engagement.

The Path of Kultur

HERE ran a road for lovers once,

With maples in the moon;

And under a bridge a water went

Weaving a dreamy rune.

And high upon the sycamores,

The nightingales all night

Besieged the dark with melody,

Disturbed the boughs with flight.

And here in coverts of tall grass

Looked up a friendly spring,

Glad to behold a face bent down,

Or feel a fleeting wing.

But now the lovers come no more;

The road is rutted and marred

By wheels and shrieking shells: the trees

Are shattered, chopt and charred.

New graves are billowing now: the field

Like windy water heaves:

The nightingales are gone: the spring

Is choked with bloody leaves.

And here at noon a vulture swoops

On obscene errands bound:

And here at night remembering ghosts

Go by without a sound.

EDWIN MARKHAM.