The white gulls wheeling over the plow, The sun, the reddening trees-- We being enemies, I and thou, There is no meaning to these. There is no flight on the wings of Spring, No scent in the Summer rose; The roundelays that the blackbirds sing-- There is no meaning in those! If you must kill me--why the lark, The hawthorn bud, and the corn? Why do the stars bedew the dark? Why is the blossom born? If I must kill you--why the kiss Which made you? There _is_ no why! If it be true we were born for this-- Pitiful Love, Good-bye! * * * * * Not for the God of Battles!-- For Honor, Freedom, and Right, And saving of gentle Beauty, We have gone down to fight! The War in the Air Attacks by Massed Squadrons of Airplanes Become an Important Factor in Battle Aerial warfare entered upon a new phase with the opening of the German offensive in March, 1918, and largely bore out the prediction that the operations in the air would become almost as vital as those of infantry and artillery. Since early in the war airmen have been performing the scouting and observation functions which formerly belonged to the cavalry arm; and as the conflict has developed they have also become skilled in the art of harassing the enemy. So far these operations had been carried out by individual aviators or comparatively small squadrons, but the operations of March, 1918, witnessed the definite development of larger squadrons, manoeuvring as effectively as bodies of cavalry, and in massed formation attacking infantry columns. The possibilities of the new aerial arm were further demonstrated in the creation of a barrage, as effective as that of heavy artillery, for the purpose of holding back advancing bodies of infantry. In the first days of the German offensive there took place an aerial battle which up to that time was unique in the annals of warfare. It was a battle not merely for the purpose of gaining the mastery of the air, but to aid allied infantry and artillery in stemming the tide of the German advance, and when the drive finally slowed down and came to a halt in Picardy, the allied airmen had undoubtedly contributed largely to the result.