Hobbes spells it Warre, with capital and roll,
Which makes it seem much worse, as if it bore
Guns, death, and injuries along before
The word revealing all Warre’s awful toll.
“Warre” is as long as “Peace”, a word we stole
From French, la guerre, Italian guerra, Warre,
All against all, the way it was before
We learned the word of Peace to keep us whole.
What made us shorten it? What need there be
To lose the harshness, lowering the bar
To make diminutive Warre’s majesty?
A shortened pet-name! It’s just so strange we are
In such a rush to speak and write that we
Must speak of war as our familiar.
