Armageddon was another name for the hill or city of Megiddo, in the great plain of Esdraelon, which extends across central Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. It was the great battlefield of Old Testament history, the scene of many mighty struggles of good and evil-the old battlefield of Canaan. It was the scene of two great victories-those of Barak and Deborah over the Canaanites commanded by Sisera, and of Gideon over the Midianites-and of two great disasters-the death of Saul and the death of Jonathan.

"The kings came and fought; then fought the kings of Caanan in Taanoch by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.”

From the Song of Deborah.

"For there the shield of the mighty ones was cast away,
The shield of Saul, as of one unanointed with oil.
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty
The bow of Jonathan turned not back,

And the sword of Saul returned not empty.

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided."

From David's Lament.

On the same historic plain near the city of Megiddo, Josiah, king of Judah, was defeated and mortally wounded by Necho, the Pharaoh of Egypt, 609 B. C.

The plain of Megiddo was so often, in fact, the meeting place of ancient armies that it seems to have come to be looked upon as the typical battleground.

In Revelation the evil spirits are spoken of as being gathered together "to the battle of that great day of God Almighty . . . into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

In this poem of Sir Edwin Arnold's, Armageddon with its historic significance is lifted out of the dim past and projected into the future; and "Marching down to Armageddon" means marching down to humanity's great battlefield of the future, where the forces of right and wrong are to contend, as of old, for supremacy.

As soldiers in the army marching on to this conflict our banner is the white banner of Hope, our motto, Brotherhood; a song is on our lips, and our bugle rings for the peace of the world. We have no hate for those who do not agree with us, and we complain not that the way we tread is so rough and long. This is the battlecry of the future.

ARMAGEDDON
1

Marching down to Armageddon-
Brothers, stout and strong!
Let us cheer the way we tread on,

With a soldier's song!
Faint we by the weary road,

Or fall we in the rout,

Dirge or Pæan, Death or Triumph!——

Let the song ring out!

2

We are they who scorn the scorners-
Love the lovers-hate

None within the world's four corners-
All must share one fate;

We are they whose common banner
Bears no badge nor sign,

Save the light which dyes it white-
The Hope that makes it shine.

3

We are they whose bugle rings,
That all the wars may cease;
We are they will pay the Kings
Their cruel price for Peace;
We are they whose steadfast watchword
Is what Christ did teach-
"Each man for his Brother first-

And Heaven, then, for each."

4

We are they who will not falter-
Many swords or few-

Till we make this Earth the altar

Of a worship new;

We are they who will not take
From palace, priest or code,

A meaner Law than "Brotherhood"-
A lower Lord than God.

5

Marching down to Armageddon—
Brothers, stout and strong!
Ask not why the way we tread on
Is so rough and long!
God will tell us when our spirits
Grow to grasp His plan!
Let us do our part to-day-

And help Him, helping Man!

6

Shall we even curse the madness Which for "ends of State" Dooms us to the long, long sadness Of this human hate?

Let us slay in perfect pity

Those that must not live; Vanquish, and forgive our foesOr fall-and still forgive!

We are those whose unpaid legions,

In free ranks arrayed, Massacred in many regions—

Never once were stayed:

We are they whose torn battalions,
Trained to bleed, not fly,

Make our agonies a triumph,-
Conquer, while we die!

8

Therefore, down to Armageddon-
Brothers, bold and strong;

Cheer the glorious way we tread on,
With this soldier song!

Let the armies of the old Flags

March in silent dread!

Death and Life are one to us,

Who fight for Quick and Dead!

-Edwin Arnold.

EACH AND ALL

This is one of Emerson's noblest poems; and although it seems to be difficult, it is not. High-school pupils can understand it, and teachers will find in it one of the greatest of all truths of nature and of life. It is worthy of much rereading and careful study.

The brackets and italics which we have had the printer use will assist in its interpretation. The central thought -the key-note-of the whole poem is expressed in the italicized lines:

All are needed by each one;

Nothing is fair or good alone.

This central thought is illustrated in seven different ways (each indicated by a bracket), and each of these illustrations should be studied closely in the light of the central thought of the poem.