Page 76 - The Irony Board
P. 76
Into the World
Snail’s pace
The gastropod
Habits of armies
Marching overland
Do just as much
Damage to plant life
As is done by hand.
This observation comes from taking literally the proverb “an
army travels on its stomach”; that is, troops will advance only as
long as they can be fed. Like snails, human soldiers are stomach-
footed, remorselessly eating whatever is in their path. But, unlike
snails, our foot-soldiers also have hands attached to arms: we chop,
trample, and burn the vegetation blocking our movements and
protecting or nourishing the enemy. In fact, with modern advances
in chemical warfare and incendiary bombardment, the balance has
probably shifted completely away from eating to laying waste; sadly,
the poem is obsolete.
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