the traditional rituals, which were based in 18th century Celtic neopaganism, to better reflect the Christian beliefs of the Welsh people. Rev. Evans-Jones, whom Alan Llwyd considers the greatest Welsh poet of the Great War, is best known under the bardic name of Cynan. Welsh poet Alan Llwyd's English translations of many poems by both poets appear in the volume Out of the Fire of Hell; Welsh Experience of the Great War 1914–1918 in Prose and Verse. Among the most striking is the poem that follows: Ballade by the War Memorial. (A Speech that would not be heard on Armistice Day). By Alfred Evans-Jones. Translated by Alan Llwyd. From ghostly realms I come, a shade, On your dead sons' behalf, to see What honour, praise, or accolade: We would return to, not that we Would wish for your false eulogy. But what is this? – the old, old lie On stones to shame our memory: "For one's own land, it's sweet to die." When the wild heart of youth was made Tame by the clumsy artistry Of some rough blacksmith's bayonet blade Or the hot bullet's ecstasy, Or when the shells whined endlessly, And then became a colder cry, Would you still sing so joyously: "For one's own land, it's sweet to die? But it is sweet to be dismayed On seeing those whom we made free Through war grown wealthy, while, betrayed, My friends who fought for victory Now starve: I'd break these stones to be Bread for old comrades of days gone by While you still sing with so much glee: "For one's own land it's sweet to die." L'Envoi. Friend, in the colours of the O.T.C., One day you will remember why I challenged such hypocrisy: "For one's own land, it's sweet to die." United States The United States only entered the Great War in May 1917. By that time, the mass mechanized slaughter at the Somme, Verdun, and Passchendaele, which still haunt the other combatant nations, had already taken place. By the time large numbers of soldiers from the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) arrived in France, they faced an Imperial German Army that was starving, exhausted, and which had already been bled white by three years of war. Furthermore, the German people were being systematically starved by a Royal Navy blockade and were increasingly on the brink of overthrowing the Monarchy. Although American Doughboys helped stem