Herald: You are free;
That does not make you powerful. Hope has driven
Many cities against each other; she stirs
An overreaching heart; she is not to be trusted.
When the people vote on war, nobody reckons
On his own death; it is too soon; he thinks
Some other man will meet that wretched fate.
But if death faced him when he cast his vote,
Hellas would never perish from battle-maddness.
And yet we men all know which of two words
Is better, and can weight the good and bad
They bring: how much better is peace than war!
That does not make you powerful. Hope has driven
Many cities against each other; she stirs
An overreaching heart; she is not to be trusted.
When the people vote on war, nobody reckons
On his own death; it is too soon; he thinks
Some other man will meet that wretched fate.
But if death faced him when he cast his vote,
Hellas would never perish from battle-maddness.
And yet we men all know which of two words
Is better, and can weight the good and bad
They bring: how much better is peace than war!
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