The War

I saw a war, yet none the trumpet blew, Nor in their hands the steel-wrought weapons bare; And in that conflict armed there fought but few, And none that in the world's loud tumults share; They fought against their wills,—the stubborn foe That mail-clad warriors left unfought within, And wordy champions left unslain below,— The ravening wolf though drest in fleecy skin;— They fought for peace,—not that the world can give, Whose tongue proclaims the war its hands have ceased And bids us as each other's neighbor live, Ere haughty Self within us has deceased; They fought for him whose kingdom must increase, Good will to men, on earth forever peace.