And as they sojourned both of them together, Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father, Behold the preparations, fire and iron, But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps, And builded parapets and trenches there, And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.
"The Parable of the Old Man and the Young" is a poem by Wilfred Owen that compares the ascent of Abraham to Mount Moriah and his near-sacrifice of Isaac there with the start of World War I.
"Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps", which suggests imagery relating to a young soldier being sent, possibly against his will, in a uniform to fight.
Then the last two lines of the poem diverge from the Biblical account, set apart for greater effect: "But the old man would not so, but slew his son, / and half the seed of Europe, one by one.
The last two lines are the only ones that rhyme, and the image they paint is chilling[opinion]: an old man methodically killing the seed of Europe.