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Peace For Our Time

“I believe it is peace for our time… Go home and
get a nice quiet sleep.” —Neville Chamberlain

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping
it will eat him last.” —Winston Churchill.

A triumph, yes, a veritable smash!
From Munich I convey peace for our time.
Great Britain’s safe from Hitler’s greedy hands!
Rejoice that all the British Empire’s lands,
Comprising every culture, race and clime,
Shall never be assailed nor bled for cash.

Some claim the Führer’s henchmen are vile brutes
And why trade peace for values we despise?
Because this keeps the Germans from our shore!
We’re spared the need to fight a foreign war.
The Munich Pact is made with open eyes
And toasts our nations’ common Saxon roots.

Negotiation is a valid tool:
We give up something, they make a concession;
The Nazis turn their gaze away from us.
Some say I’ve thrown the Czechs under the bus
But they have simply got the wrong impression.
Posterity will see I’m no one’s fool.

I do confess the Führer seemed low-born
And studied me the way a savage might.
That death-mask face… the void behind those eyes…
His soul is not my business! I despise
Those hotheads who demand a losing fight!
A clash might bring us ruin and world scorn.

I shall no more endure warmongers’ bile.
Now that it’s done, it’s Churchill they’ll revile.
I should be praised for rescuing our Isle,
Regardless if all Europe shouts “Sieg Heil!”
By besting Hitler with good will and guile,
I’m proud to say I’ve tamed the crocodile.

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Poet’s Note: In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded autonomy for Germans living in the Sudetenland region of British ally, Czechoslovakia. To avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain accepted German occupation of the Sudetenland. Upon arriving in London, Chamberlain announced he had secured “peace for our time.” World War II began one year later when Germany invaded Poland.

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Dare to Cross the Rubicon

I gifted Rome the conquered province Gaul
Which much increased our vast Republic’s size.
We bled and died. Our legions gave their all.
For eight years since I’ve governed this new prize
With strength and honor, heeding duty’s call.
Yet Rome mistrusts me. Next they’ll send out spies.

A most ungrateful Senate posts this order:
“Return to Rome. Leave all your men behind.”
They want me helpless when I cross the border.
They think that I’m a fool as well as blind.
Their envy’s such they’ll offer me no quarter
If I approach with my command resigned.

The River Rubicon marks the frontier.
I cross alone, there’s nought to criticize.
In fact, they’ll gloat “We’ve broken Caesar’s spear!”
While I beg mercy from men I despise.
It galls me to make choices based on fear!
To play it safe is almost never wise.

True, if I cross alone, Rome’s humble son,
I might survive. Just play the masquerader
Who feeds their pompous pride with praises spun
And fawning lies: “You leaders make Rome greater!”
But lead my troops across, then war’s begun.
The Senate will renounce me as a traitor.

To Hades with such games! I shall move fast
And bravely. Let my army make Rome quiver!
I will not bend to fools mired in the past
When it’s a brilliant future I deliver.
My loyal troops, we march! The die is cast.
The sun ascends. It’s time we cross the River.

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Poet’s note: In January 49 BC, Julius Caesar led a single legion south over the Rubicon River from Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. As a general entering Italy at the head of an army, he deliberately broke the law and made civil war inevitable. Suetonius reports that, upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar uttered the famous phrase alea iacta est – “the die has been cast.”

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Brian Yapko is a lawyer who also writes poetry. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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39 Responses

  1. Paddy Raghunathan

    Brian,

    Two very interesting and well written poems. Only last week I read Robert Harris’ book Munich, and your first poem is bang on target. There’s now general consensus that Britain ought to have gone to war a lot sooner, and fewer lives would have been lost.

    Best regards,

    Paddy

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much indeed, Paddy! How I wish Britain had stood up to Hitler earlier. It’s a valuable lesson: there may be a dire price to be paid for ambivalence and the desire for peace “at any cost” — especially at the expense of one’s soul.

      Reply
  3. Mark Stellinga

    Impressive clarity both, Brian, and a pair of pretty difficult rhyme schemes done exceptionally well. THIS is authentic ‘Poetry’. You’re described as – “a lawyer who also writes poetry”. I’d say you’re a poet who also practices law. 2 keepers!

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      This is an extremely generous comment, Mark! Thank you so much.

      Reply
  4. Roy Eugene Peterson

    These are two great poems of historical events of vast importance that we all should take to heart, since they shaped the world of their time. As an avid student of history, these stories, as resurrected in your poems, apply to critical political decisions that only the wise can appreciate and apply. Appeasement is perfectly described in your quote by Churchill and set the stage of your poem for the great concluding statement. The civil war engendered by Julius Caesar is mindful of one of the goals of Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, who penetrated Russia. Who knows why he turned back at a critical stage when it seemed Russia was beginning to feel some effects of a civil war. In any event, I admire these two poems both in the style and substance. Great work!

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much, Roy. I appreciate your kind words and I very much appreciate your knowledge of history — not just the bare facts but the resonances that historical events have with current events. Those resonances are generally what interest me as a poet and is why I so often write poetry with a historical backdrop.

      Reply
  5. Cynthia Erlandson

    Wow, Brian, I think these are both excellent war-themed poems. They both speak important truths. In “Peace for our Time”, I love your a-b-c-c-b-a rhyme scheme, followed by six consecutive rhymes in the last verse (a few more and it would be Bob-Dylan-esque! 🙂 ) Also, masquerader/greater/traitor is really fun.

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you so much, Cynthia! I am so glad you recognize the resonances both poems have regarding politics and politicians in general. When I first conceived these poems, I thought of the Chamberlain poem as a profile in cowardice and the Caesar poem as a profile in courage. I’m especially glad you like that abccba rhyme scheme because the idea behind it was Chamberlain’s rather circular reasoning that leads nowhere.

      Reply
    • Julian D. Woodruff

      I noticed that rhymed triplet, too, Cynthia. Enough to make one envious.

      Reply
  6. Julian D. Woodruff

    Two lucid historical rhymes, Brian. Besting Hitler with good will–wow! And today such good will becomes widespread sympathy toward the aggressive complainants, and before long opposition, even violent opposition, toward those standing in defence of basic and reasonable values and solid facts of existence.

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much, Julian! Your reading of the Chamberlain poem is exactly as I hoped! One does not respond to aggression with meekness! And one must not fail to confront tyranny! One way or the other, we must stand firm regarding — as you beautifully state it — “basic and reasonable values and solid facts of existence.”

      Reply
  7. Paul Freeman

    Enjoyed both, Brian, but especially ‘Peace for our Time’ after watching Gary Oldman’s Oscar-winning performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour a couple of weeks back, which is exactly the era you’ve written about.

    As always, I feel more educated after reading your historical verse.

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much indeed, Paul. That is a period of history that I find endlessly fascinating and frustrating. As for “Darkest Hour” — that instantly became one of my favorite films ever. Gary Oldman inhabits Winston Churchill in a way that is most impressive and heartening.

      Reply
  8. Joseph S. Salemi

    Brian, your two poems are well crafted, and very apt for the contemporary world.

    Soon after the Munich agreement (which dismembered Czechoslovakia without anyone asking permission of the people involved) Hitler decided to seize the remaining rump of that nation, and placed it under German occupation (calling it the “General Gouvernment” of Bohemia-Moravia).

    In the discussions recorded in Hitler’s “Table Talks,” he said the following:

    “Our enemies are worms. I saw them at Munich.”

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you. Joe. I’m on the road to Southern California and so can’t reply in depth but appreciate the additional historical details you’ve provided..

      Reply
  9. Mia

    Excellent poems. SCP just keeps getting better and better.

    My problem is that the poems are so good that they bring out issues too difficult to resist. Issues that affect as all. A nuclear bomb will not discriminate.
    I don’t really want to comment but this never ending justification for another war is terrifying. It is all very well to say from the comfort of our home that tyranny must be confronted.
    These are very different times from the Romans or even the 1940s.
    In addition with all the philologists out there I would like to debate as to why some tyranny is ignored whilst some is cited constantly.
    For example, when millions of Armenians were being massacred a decade before Hitler, no one went to their aid. Perhaps if they had it would have sent a message that would have changed the course of history. But we will never know.
    As for Chamberlain, he made a mistake. History proved him wrong but
    everyone is wiser with hindsight.
    Do those two examples justify a war with Russia?
    Russia and the Ukraine are very far from the USA, just as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea and Vietnam are.
    It is only when you are actually on the receiving end of war that you realise what it entails.
    Is it not time to urge our governments to look to the problems of the homeless, the lawlessness in our own cities- now that’s tyranny! Put their own homes in order, so to speak, before they engage in doing so somewhere else with devastating effects.
    Just my humble thoughts, forgive me for being a philologist when all I really want to be is a poet. But hey, we don’t always get what we would like.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Mia, I agree with you totally.

      It was necessary to fight a hubristic madman like Hitler, whose mania made World War II inevitable.

      But it is pure insanity on our part to stoke the fires of the war in the Ukraine! The hubristic madmen who are doing this are warmongering neoconservative scum like Victoria Nuland, John Bolton, and their pals in our illegitimate government.

      Reply
      • mia

        Thank you, I really appreciate your comment. I value your opinions very much.

    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much, Mia, for this deeply-considered comment. I’m out of town and can’t really reply in depth but may do so when I return next week. But for now, suffice it to say that t is indeed easy to criticize with the benefit of hindsight. Still, some are blessed with foresight — and this is something both Churchill and Caesar had in spades!

      Reply
      • mia

        Thank you, both for your poems and your kind response.

  10. Phil S. Rogers

    As a history ‘nut’ I enjoyed your poems immensely, especially Peace For Our Time and Chamberlain’s concessions to Hitler. Would things have been better or worse if the war had come sooner? A question that can never be answered.
    Churchill, in my opinion, was perhaps the best statesman of the 20th century.

    Reply
  11. Margaret Coats

    Brian, these are both masterful pictures of a moment in history understood from the characterization of major actors. In the Chamberlain piece, the most ominous stanza is the one in which Chamberlain describes Hitler studying him. From other words you attribute to Chamberlain, we see that he feared Britain would lose a battle with Hitler. Thus fear and lack of readiness are what Hitler saw in Britain, and what the British people experienced during the 1940 Battle of Britain. Fortunately Britain survived, thanks to the Royal Air Force and Churchill’s determination, and the war against Hitler was won with the United States in the lead (as Churchill hoped). You show Chamberlain as lacking the will to fight, and thus refusing to take a clear look at circumstances (either at Hitler himself or at the real danger he posed as leader of Germany). Worse, though, he translates this to pride and pompous talk.

    You show Caesar as a man of a completely different kind. He is calculating, proud of his abilities and accomplishments, and fearful of political enemies because he is aware of circumstances. He has the will to fight (relying on loyal troops), and thus starts a civil war to defend himself against personal enemies. The reasons you have him give are opposition to foes “mired in the past” (with its fear-based decision-making) and the promise of a “brilliant future.” He is self-assured and confident.

    Only by knowing what is not in the poem can we speculate on long-term motives. Did he fight to be dictator for life? To consign a corrupt republic to the mire of the past? To destroy his enemies and anyone who might take sides against him? Historians wonder. It seems, Brian, that in Caesar you choose a character who can only judge the present from his limited viewpoint, and find it a moment for courage regardless of consequences. But for all he says about the past, he clearly chooses to continue his personal past of bravery and competent leadership.

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much indeed, Margaret, for your detailed analysis of the characters and my characterizations of these two historical figures. I would like to reply in depth but cannot easily do so while trying to use my cellphone en route to So Cal. I will most certainly write more next week upon my return. In the meantime, I very much agree with how you view these men. The contrast was quite intentional. As I replied to Cynthia, the concept was a profile in political cowardice contrasted with a profile in political courage. More anon!

      Reply
  12. Brian A Yapko

    Thank you, Phil. As you may have gathered, I also am a history nut! The hypothetical question about the war coming sooner is an intriguing one which I must really think about. My gut reaction is that war before Churchill stepped in would have been disastrous. The U.K. would not have been ready either militarily or psychologically. Certainly the U.S. would not have been on a war footing. I fully agree about Churchill. We need more leaders with his insight and resolve.

    Reply
  13. Joshua C. Frank

    Brian, as usual, you write poems in the voices of others very well and even manage to pick the perfect forms for them. It must be especially difficult to write in the voices of real people who can be fact-checked by others.

    I definitely see the similarities between Britain’s policy of appeasement and the modern West’s encouragement of unrestricted immigration and kissing the rear ends of all kinds of countries with whom we have no business being involved.

    Say what you will about Caesar, if he hadn’t crossed the Rubicon, he couldn’t have gone on to expand Rome into an empire. Civilizations go through a cycle of expansion and decay; perhaps if he hadn’t been able to expand Rome beyond the republic, the decay and fall would have happened much sooner. Indeed, it was the Empire that laid the groundwork for the expansion of Christianity throughout Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa.

    Then, going back full circle to the topic of Chamberlain and appeasement, Christians in North Africa were so strongly anti-war that they offered no resistance to Arab invaders during the Great Jihad, which is why that whole area is Muslim to this day.

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much, Josh! Really great observations and some deep points you’ve brought up that I’d like to elaborate on when I get back next week and can do them justice. But in the meantime and for the record, I’m a big Julius Caesar fan. Talk about a consequential figure! His shadow looms large 20 centuries later!

      Reply
  14. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Brian, these two poems are beautifully and smoothly written in lilting language that serves to elevate the message in each… lessons from history we should all heed in today’s turbulent times. I love the rhyme scheme and skillfully chosen rhyme endings, which never once detract from the underlying warnings. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you, Susan. For your generous comment. History has so much to teach us — especially since humans keep making the same mistakes over and over again!

      Reply
  15. Paul Martin Freeman

    Alas, poor Neville:
    He tried his best.
    He met the devil;
    You know the rest.

    Reply
  16. Michael Vanyukov

    Both are very timely. Both touch upon current events (are such things ever not current?). Chamberlain is such a symbol of mollifying monsters, with the best intentions. Munich was always used in the Soviet Union as the justification of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.

    Reply
  17. Brian A Yapko

    Thank you very much, Michael! History is a fascinating and inexhaustible source of insight into present day affairs. Thank you for the additional information. I am especially intrigued by the deservedly critical way the Soviet Union regarded Chamberlain’s Munich Agreement.

    Reply
  18. Yael

    I love your historical poems Brian, they are a joy to read and to learn from.
    Your poems remind me of how righteous and godly men who are bold for God and fearless before their fellow men subsequently become fearful of death after they stoop to take human lives. Elijah in 1 Kings 19 comes to mind and Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:32,33 and 16:2.
    May I never be a sinner who becomes an instrument to punish other sinners is my prayer.

    Reply
    • Brian A Yapko

      Thank you very much, Yael. I greatly appreciate your insights and the biblical connections you have drawn to some of my characters. And I second your prayer.

      Reply
  19. Patricia

    Brian, since I love watching about the wars on the history channel, your poem provided more depth for me. I so appreciate your intelligence and who you are as a human being.
    Thank you for being in my life.
    Patricia 7/16/2023

    Reply
  20. Brian A Yapko

    Thank you so much, Patricia! You are so kind! I appreciate you as well.

    Reply

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