Axis & Allies - damowords

Treaty of Utrecht
As Peneus & Alpheus combinʹd
England & Holland wash the wound of France,
Pour thwarting salts within, bloodthirsty blind,
Into his dotage Louis did advance;
Dictating still
The quarel of nations,
Arse far from battleʹs thrill & warʹs degregations.
Then what has France gainʹd from his war
Her townʹs depopulated,
Enemy pirates at the shore,
Her fields uncultivated,
Country houses wick with the poor,
Death unsatiated ‐
At first with war men say tis more a sport,
But by the end just horrors they report.
At last the Sun‐King sues for peace,
Paradise to preserve,
By this increase Europaʹs police,
Great Britain & her verve,
Possess Pillars of Hercules thro which all sealanes swerve.
Gibralta
1713
A Womanʹs War
She met him in the hot flush of her youth,
Working the lobster‐pots of Port Appin,
Tween creamy lips kisses scream passionʹs truth,
So wed for love, her kinsmen took him in;
She bore three sons,
Each wore her husbandʹs name ‐
Now sounds of pipes & guns toward their idyll came.
Alexander away did ride,
To join with the Jacobite,
Tho calm she seemʹd on the outside
Tears drenchʹd her pillow by night,
& trembling all her time did bide
For news of distant fight,
When certain words within her soul would burn,
ʺO mother, when will father dear returnʺ
Her prayers answerʹd happily,
He strollʹd in with the mail,
Balanced his three sons on each knee,
& told them stirring tayle
Of Highlanders proud marching for a cause that must prevail.
Scotland
1715