Dirge

DIRGE

Spread the news and tell it out
They must not hear us; we dare not shout
But whisper to one another and say
Heydrich the Hangman died today!
The sky is still dark, the night is not gone,
And far, far away is the promise of dawn,
But let it be published, let it be said
Heydrich the Hangman is dead.

Remember his evil, remember his crimes;
Mankind will remember these terrible times
Till all that we know of has passed away,
But Heydrich the Hangman died today!
Shovel the earth and cover his face.
Though others as evil arise in his place
When history's written, this will be read:
Heydrich the Hangman is dead!

This poem was written in 1945 because if a school assignment. The assignment was to find something in the news and write a poem about it. The news item was about the assassination of a ranking Nazi officer who had so much innocent blood on his hands that they called him 'The Hangman'.