This is the best time of the day, the dawn, the final cleansing breath
Unsullied yet by acrid fume or death's cacophony
The rank refuse of unchained ambition
And pray deny me not, but know me now
Your faithful retainer stands resolute to
Serve his liege lord without recompense
Perchance to fall and perish namelessly
No flag draped bier or muffled drum to
Set the cadence for a final dress parade
But it was not always thus, remember?
Once you worshipped me and named me a god in many tongues
And made offering lest I exact too terrible a tribute
Take heed, for I am weary, ancient and
Decrepit now, and my time grows short
There are no honorable frays to join
Only mean death dealt out in dibs and dabs
Or horror unleashed from across oceans
Assail me not with noble policy, for I care not at all for platitude
And surrender such tedious detail to greater minds than mine
And nimbler tongues, singular in their purpose and resolve
And presuming to speak for every man
Oh, for another time, a distant field
And there a mortal warrior's lonely grave
But duty charges me
Remain until the end, the last battle of the last war
Until that morrow, render unto me that which is mine
My stipend well deserved, the fairest flower of your progeny
Your sons, your daughters, your hopes and your dreams
The cruel consequence of your conceit