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<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Over Here, by Edgar A. Guest</h1>
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This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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<p>Title: Over Here</p>
<p>Author: Edgar A. Guest</p>
<p>Release Date: September 2, 2005 [eBook #16632]</p>
<p>Language: English</p>
<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OVER HERE***</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>E-text prepared by Pat Saumell and Chuck Greif</h3>
<p> </p>
<hr class="full" />
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h1>Over Here</h1>
<h3>By</h3>
<h1>Edgar A. Guest</h1>
<h3>Author of</h3>
<h5>"A Heap o' Livin'" "Just Folks"</h5>
<div class="figcenter">
<img src="images/medalion.jpg"
alt="Design" title="Design" />
</div>
<p> </p>
<h3>The Reilly & Britton Co.</h3>
<h3>Chicago</h3>
<h3>1918</h3>
<p> </p>
<div class="figcenter">
<img src="images/overherecover.jpg"
alt="Book Cover" title="Book Cover" />
</div>
<br /><br /><br /><br />
<h1><i>To the Mothers Over Here</i></h1>
<br /><br /><br /><br />
<hr />
<h4>INDEX</h4>
<p>
<a href="#The_Alarm"><b>Alarm, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#America"><b>America</b></a><br />
<a href="#April_Thoughts"><b>April Thoughts</b></a><br />
<a href="#As_It_Looks_to_the_Boy"><b>As It Looks to the Boy</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Battle_Prayer"><b>Battle Prayer, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#Beautifying_the_Flag"><b>Beautifying the Flag</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Better_Thing"><b>Better Thing, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Big_Deeds"><b>Big Deeds, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Bigger_Than_His_Dad"><b>Bigger Than His Dad</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Boy_Enlists"><b>Boy Enlists, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Boys_Adventure"><b>Boy's Adventure, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Call"><b>Call,The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Call_to_Service"><b>Call to Service, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Change"><b>Change, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Chaplain"><b>Chaplain, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Christmas_1918"><b>Christmas, 1918</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Christmas_Box"><b>Christmas Box, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Christmas_Greeting"><b>Christmas Greeting, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Complacent_Slacker"><b>Complacent Slacker,The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Constant_Beauty"><b>Constant Beauty</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Creed"><b>Creed, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Discovery_of_a_Soul"><b>Discovery of a Soul, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Do_Your_All"><b>Do Your All</b></a><br />
<a href="#Drafted"><b>Drafted</b></a><br />
<a href="#Duty"><b>Duty</b></a><br />
<a href="#Easy_Service"><b>Easy Service</b></a><br />
<a href="#Envy"><b>Envy</b></a><br />
<a href="#Everywhere_in_America"><b>Everywhere in America</b></a><br />
<a href="#Exempt"><b>Exempt</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Fathers_Prayer"><b>Father's Prayer, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Fathers_Thoughts"><b>Father's Thoughts, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Fathers_Tribute"><b>Father's Tribute, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Flag"><b>Flag, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Flag_on_the_Farm"><b>Flag on the Farm, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Fly_a_Clean_Flag"><b>Fly a Clean Flag</b></a><br />
<a href="#Follow_a_Famous_Father"><b>Follow a Famous Father</b></a><br />
<a href="#Follow_the_Flag"><b>Follow the Flag</b></a><br />
<a href="#For_Your_Boy_and_Mine"><b>For Your Boy and Mine</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Friendly_Greeting"><b>Friendly Greeting, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#From_Laughter_to_Labor"><b>From Laughter to Labor</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Future"><b>Future, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#General_Pershing"><b>General Pershing</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Girl_He_Left_Behind"><b>Girl He Left Behind, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Glory_of_Age"><b>Glory of Age, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Gold_Givers"><b>Gold Givers, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Good_Luck"><b>Good Luck</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Good_Soldier"><b>Good Soldier, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#Hate"><b>Hate</b></a><br />
<a href="#He_Should_Meet_a_Mother_There"><b>He Should Meet a Mother There</b></a><br />
<a href="#Here_We_Are"><b>Here We Are!</b></a><br />
<a href="#His_Room"><b>His Room</b></a><br />
<a href="#His_Santa_Claus"><b>His Santa Claus</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Honor_Roll"><b>Honor Roll, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Hope"><b>Hope</b></a><br />
<a href="#Ideals"><b>Ideals</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Important_Thing"><b>Important Thing, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Joy_to_Be"><b>Joy to Be, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#July_the_Fourth_1917"><b>July the Fourth, 1917</b></a><br />
<a href="#Kelly_Ingram"><b>Kelly Ingram</b></a><br />
<a href="#Lifes_Slacker"><b>Life's Slacker</b></a><br />
<a href="#Living"><b>Living</b></a><br />
<a href="#Memorial_Day"><b>Memorial Day</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Mother_Faith"><b>Mother Faith, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Mother_on_the_Sidewalk"><b>Mother on the Sidewalk, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Mothers_and_Wives"><b>Mothers and Wives</b></a><br />
<a href="#My_Part"><b>My Part</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_New_Year"><b>New Year, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Next_of_Kin"><b>Next of Kin</b></a><br />
<a href="#Our_Duty_to_Our_Flag"><b>Our Duty to Our Flag</b></a><br />
<a href="#Out_of_It_All"><b>Out of It All</b></a><br />
<a href="#Over_Here"><b>Over Here</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Patriot"><b>Patriot, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Patriotic_Creed"><b>Patriotic Creed, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Patriotic_Wish"><b>Patriotic Wish, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Plea"><b>Plea, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Prayer"><b>Prayer, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Prayer_1918"><b>Prayer, 1918, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Princess_Pats"><b>Princess Pats, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Proof_of_Worth"><b>Proof of Worth, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Prophecy"><b>Prophecy</b></a><br />
<a href="#Rebellion"><b>Rebellion</b></a><br />
<a href="#Reflection"><b>Reflection</b></a><br />
<a href="#Runner_McGee"><b>Runner McGee</b></a><br />
<a href="#See_It_Through"><b>See It Through</b></a><br />
<a href="#Selfishness"><b>Selfishness</b></a><br />
<a href="#Show_the_Flag"><b>Show the Flag</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Soldier_on_Crutches"><b>Soldier on Crutches, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Soldierly"><b>Soldierly</b></a><br />
<a href="#Spring_in_the_Trenches"><b>Spring in the Trenches</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Struggle"><b>Struggle, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Sympathy"><b>Sympathy</b></a><br />
<a href="#Taking_His_Place"><b>Taking His Place</b></a><br />
<a href="#Thanksgiving"><b>Thanksgiving</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Things_That_Make_a_Soldier_Great"><b>Things That Make a Soldier Great, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Thoughts_of_a_Soldier"><b>Thoughts of a Soldier</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Time_for_Deeds"><b>Time for Deeds, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#To_a_Kindly_Critic"><b>To a Kindly Critic</b></a><br />
<a href="#To_a_Lady_Knitting"><b>To a Lady Knitting</b></a><br />
<a href="#To_the_Men_at_Home"><b>To the Men at Home</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Undaunted"><b>Undaunted, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#United"><b>United</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Unsettled_Scores"><b>Unsettled Scores, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Waiter_at_the_Camp"><b>Waiter at the Camp, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Warriors"><b>Warriors</b></a><br />
<a href="#Wars_Homecoming"><b>War's Homecoming</b></a><br />
<a href="#We_Need_a_Few_More_Optimists"><b>We Need a Few More Optimists</b></a><br />
<a href="#We_Who_Stay_at_Home"><b>We Who Stay at Home</b></a><br />
<a href="#Weve_Had_a_Letter_From_the_Boy"><b>We've Had a Letter From the Boy</b></a><br />
<a href="#When_the_Drums_Shall_Cease_to_Beat"><b>When the Drums Shall Cease to Beat</b></a><br />
<a href="#Why_We_Fight"><b>Why We Fight</b></a><br />
<a href="#A_Wish"><b>Wish, A</b></a><br />
<a href="#The_Wrist_Watch_Man"><b>Wrist Watch Man, The</b></a><br />
<a href="#Your_Country_Needs_You"><b>Your Country Needs You</b></a><br />
</p>
<hr style="width: 65%;"/>
<h2><a name="Over_Here" id="Over_Here"></a>Over Here</h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pledged to the bravest and the best,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We stand, who cannot share the fray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Staunch for the danger and the test.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For them at night we kneel and pray.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be with them, Lord, who serve the truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And make us worthy of our youth!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here mother-love and father-love</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Unite in love of country now;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here to the flag that flies above,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our heads we reverently bow;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here as one people, night and day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For victory we work and pray.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor race nor creed shall difference make,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor bigot mar the zealot's plan;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We give our all for Freedom's sake,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Each man a king, each king a man.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Make us the equal, Lord, we pray</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of them who die for truth to-day!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us as gladly give our best,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us as bravely pay the price</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As they, who in the bitter test</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Meet the supremest sacrifice.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God! Wherever we are led,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us be worthy of our dead!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us not compromise the truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let us not cringe so much in fear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That foes may whisper to our youth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That we have failed in courage here.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lord, strengthen us, that they may know</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our spirits follow where they go!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Why_We_Fight" id="Why_We_Fight"></a><i>Why We Fight</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This is the thing we fight:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A cry of terror in the night;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A ship on work of mercy bent—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A carrier of the sick and maimed—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beneath the cruel waters sent,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And those that did it, unashamed.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A woman who had tried to fill</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A mother's place; had nursed the ill</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And soothed the troubled brows of pain</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And earned the dying's grateful prayers,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Before a wall by soldiers slain!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And such a poor pretext was theirs!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old women pierced by bayonets grim</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And babies slaughtered for a whim,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cathedrals made the sport of shells,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No mercy, even for a child,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As though the imps of all the hells</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Were crazed with drink and running wild.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All this we fight—that some day when</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good sense shall come again to men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our children's children may not read</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This age's history thus defamed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And find we served a selfish creed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And ever be of us ashamed!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="America" id="America"></a><i>America</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God has been good to men. He gave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His Only Son their souls to save,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then he made a second gift,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which from their dreary lives should lift</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The tyrant's yoke and set them free</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From all who'd throttle liberty.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He gave America to men—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fashioned this land we love, and then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Deep in her forests sowed the seed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which was to serve man's earthly need.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When wisps of smoke first upwards curled</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From pilgrim fires, upon the world</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unnoticed and unseen, began</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God's second work of grace for man.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here where the savage roamed and fought,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God sowed the seed of nobler thought;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here to the land we love to claim,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pioneers of freedom came;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here has been cradled all that's best</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In every human mind and breast.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For full four hundred years and more</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our land has stretched her welcoming shore</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To weary feet from soils afar;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soul-shackled serfs of king and czar</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have journeyed here and toiled and sung</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And talked of freedom to their young,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And God above has smiled to see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This precious work of liberty,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And watched this second gift He gave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dreary lives of men to save.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now, when liberty's at bay,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And blood-stained tyrants force the fray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Worn warriors, battling for the right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Crushed by oppression's cruel might,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hear in the dark through which they grope</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">America's glad cry of hope:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Man's liberty is not to die!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">America is standing by!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">World-wide shall human lives be free:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">America has crossed the sea!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">America! the land we love!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God's second gift from Heaven above,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Builded and fashioned out of truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sinewed by Him with splendid youth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For that glad day when shall be furled</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All tyrant flags throughout the world.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For this our banner holds the sky:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That liberty shall never die.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For this, America began:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To make a brotherhood of man.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Time_for_Deeds" id="The_Time_for_Deeds"></a><i>The Time for Deeds</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have boasted our courage in moments of ease,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our star-spangled banner we've flung on the breeze;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have taught men to cheer for its beauty and worth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And have called it the flag of the bravest on earth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now the dark days are here, we must stand to the test.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God! let us prove we are true to our best!</span><br /><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have drunk to our flag, and we've talked of the right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have challenged oppression to show us its might;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have strutted for years through the world as a race</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That for God and for country, earth's tyrants would face;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now the gage is flung down, hate is loosed in the world.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God! shall our flag in dishonor be furled?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have said we are brave; we have preached of the truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have walked in conceit of the strength of our youth;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have mocked at the ramparts and guns of the foe,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As though we believed we could laugh them all low.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now oppression has struck! We are challenged to fight!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God! let us prove we can stand for the right!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If in honor and glory our flag is to wave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we are to keep this—the land of the brave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If more than fine words are to fashion our creeds,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now must our hands and our hearts turn to deeds.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We are challenged by tyrants our strength to reveal!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God! let us prove that our courage is real!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Everywhere_in_America" id="Everywhere_in_America"></a><i>Everywhere in America</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not somewhere in America, but everywhere to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where snow-crowned mountains hold their heads,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the vales where children play,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beside the bench and whirring lathe, on every</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">lake and stream</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in the depths of earth below, men share a</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">common dream—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dream our brave forefathers had of freedom</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and of right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And once again in honor's cause, they rally and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">unite.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not somewhere in America is love of country</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">found,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But east and west and north and south once</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">more the bugles sound,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And once again, as one, men stand to break</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">their brother's chains,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And make the world a better place, where only</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">justice reigns.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The patriotism that is here, is echoed over there,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hero at a certain post is on guard everywhere.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O'er humble home and mansion rich the starry</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">banner flies,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And far and near throughout the land the men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of valor rise.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The flag that flutters o'er your home is fluttering</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">far away</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O'er homes that you have never seen. The same</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">impulses sway</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The souls of men in distant states. The red, the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">white and blue</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Means to one hundred million strong, just what</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">it means to you.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The self-same courage resolute you feel and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">understand</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is throbbing in the breasts of men throughout</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">this mighty land.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not somewhere in America, but everywhere to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For justice and for liberty all free men work</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and pray.</span><br /><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Things_That_Make_a_Soldier_Great" id="The_Things_That_Make_a_Soldier_Great"></a><i>The Things That Make a Soldier Great</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To face the flaming cannon's mouth, nor ever question why,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis these that make a soldier great. He's fighting for them all.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But to the spot, where'er it be—the humble spot called home.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And only death can stop him now—he's fighting for them all.</span><br /><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Flag" id="The_Flag"></a><i>The Flag</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We never knew how much the Flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Could mean, until he went away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We used to boast of it and brag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As something of a by-gone day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now the Flag can start our tears</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In moments of our greatest joy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Glory in the sky appears</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The symbol of our little boy.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We knew that sometimes people wept</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To see the Flag go waving by,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But never guessed the griefs they kept—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We never understood just why.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now our eyes grow quickly dim,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our voices choke with sobs to-day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Flag is telling us of him,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our little boy who's gone away.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We never knew the Flag could be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So much a part of human life,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We thought it beautiful to see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Before these bitter days of strife;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now more beautiful it gleams,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And deeper in our hearts it dwells;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is the emblem of our dreams,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For of our little boy it tells.</span><br /><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Battle_Prayer" id="A_Battle_Prayer"></a><i>A Battle Prayer</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God of battles, be with us now:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Guard our sons from the lead of shame,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Watch our sons when the cannons flame,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let them not to a tyrant bow.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God of battles, to Thee we pray:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be with each loyal son who fights</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the cause of justice and human rights,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grant him strength and lead the way.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God of battles, our youth we give</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the battle line on a foreign soil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To conquer hatred and lust and spoil;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grant that they and their cause shall live.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Good_Luck" id="Good_Luck"></a><i>Good Luck</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good luck! That's all I'm saying, as you sail across the sea;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The best o' luck, in the parting, is the prayer you get from me.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May you never meet a danger that you won't come safely through,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May you never meet a German that can get the best of you;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! A thousand things may happen when a fellow's at the front,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A thousand different mishaps, but here's hoping that they won't.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good luck! That's all I'm saying, as you turn away to go,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good luck and plenty of it, may it be your lot to know;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May you never meet rough weather, but remember if you do</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That the folks at home are wishing that you'll all come safely through.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! A thousand things may happen when a fellow bears the brunt</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of His Country's fight for glory, but I'm praying that they won't.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good luck! That's all I'm saying as you're falling into line;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the splendor of your service bring you everything that's fine;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the fates deal kindly with you, may you never know distress,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And may every task you tackle end triumphant with success.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! A thousand things may happen that with joy your life will fill;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You may not get all the gladness, but I'm hoping that you will.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Prayer_1918" id="A_Prayer_1918"></a><i>A Prayer, 1918</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, make us worthy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">God, we pray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To do thy service</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Here to-day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Endow us with</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The strength we need</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For every</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sacrificial deed!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Change" id="The_Change"></a><i>The Change</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas hard to think that he must go,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We knew that we should miss him so,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We thought that he must always stay</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beside us, laughing, day by day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That he must never know the care</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hurt and grief of life out there.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then came the call for youth, and he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Talked with his mother and with me,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And suddenly we learned the boy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was hungering to know the joy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of doing something real with life,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And that he craved the test of strife.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so we steeled ourselves to dread;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see at night his empty bed;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To feel the silence and the gloom</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That hovers o'er his vacant room,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And though we wept the day he went,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And many a lonely hour we've spent,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We've come to think as he, somehow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we are more contented now;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We're proud that we can stand and say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have a boy who's gone away.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we are glad to know that he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is serving where he ought to be.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's queer, the change that time has brought:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We're different now in speech and thought;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His letters home mean joy to us,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His difficulties we discuss.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When word of his promotion came,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother, with her eyes aflame</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With happiness and pride, rushed out</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To tell the neighbors round about.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Her boy! Her boy is doing well!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What greater news can mothers tell?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I think that pity now we show</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For those who have no boys to go.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Mothers_and_Wives" id="Mothers_and_Wives"></a><i>Mothers and Wives</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mothers and wives, 'tis the call to arms</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That the bugler yonder prepares to sound;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We stand on the brink of war's alarms</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And your men may lie on a blood-stained</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">ground.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The drums may play and the flags may fly,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And our boys may don the brown and blue,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the call that summons brave men to die</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is the call for glorious women, too.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mothers and wives, if the summons comes,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You, as ever since war has been,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must hear with courage the rolling drums</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And dry your tears when the flags are seen.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For never has hero fought and died</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who has braver been than the mother, who</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Buckled his saber at his side,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And sent him forward to dare and do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mothers and wives, should the call ring out,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It is you must answer your country's cry;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You must furnish brave hearts and stout</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the firing line where the heroes die.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And never a corpse on the field of strife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Should be honored more in his country's sight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than the noble mother or noble wife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who sent him forth in the cause of right.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mothers and wives, 'tis the call for men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To give their strength and to give their lives;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But well we know, such a summons then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is the call for mothers and loyal wives,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For you must give us the strength we need,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You must give us the boys in blue,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For never a boy or a man shall bleed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But a mother or wife shall suffer, too.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Call_to_Service" id="The_Call_to_Service"></a><i>The Call to Service</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">These are the days when little thoughts</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Must cease men's minds to occupy;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The nation needs men's larger creeds,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Big men must answer to her cry;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No longer selfish ways we tread,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The greater task lies just ahead.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">These are the days when petty things</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By all men must be thrust aside;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The country needs men's finest deeds,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Awakened is the nation's pride;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Men must forsake their selfish strife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Once more to guard their country's life.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Kelly_Ingram" id="Kelly_Ingram"></a><i>Kelly Ingram</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His name was Kelly Ingram; he was Alabama's son,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he whistled "Yankee Doodle," as he stood beside his gun;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There was laughter in his make-up, there was manhood in his face,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he knew the best traditions and the courage of his race;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now there's not a heart among us but should swell with loyal pride</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he thinks of Kelly Ingram and the splendid way he died.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On the swift Destroyer Cassin he was merely gunner's mate,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But up there to-day, I fancy, he is standing with the great.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On that grim day last October his position on the craft</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was that portion of the vessel which the sailors christen aft;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There were deep sea bombs beside him to be dropped upon the Hun</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who makes women folks his victims and then gloats o'er what he's done.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the lookout came a warning; came the cry all sailors fear,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A torpedo was approaching, and the vessel's doom was near;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ingram saw the streak of danger, but he saw a little more,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A greater menace faced them than that missile had in store;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If those deep sea bombs beside him were not thrown beneath the wave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Every man aboard the Cassin soon would find a watery grave.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was death for him to linger, but he figured if he ran</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And quit his post of duty, 'twould be death for every man;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So he stood at his position, threw those depth bombs overboard,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when that torpedo struck them, he went forth to meet his Lord.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I don't know how to say it, but these whole United States</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Should remember Kelly Ingram—he who died to save his mates.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Joy_to_Be" id="The_Joy_to_Be"></a><i>The Joy to Be</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, mother, be you brave of heart and keep</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">your bright eyes shining;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some day the smiles of joy shall start and you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">shall cease repining.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beyond the dim and distant line the days of</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">peace are waiting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When you shall have your soldier fine, and men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">shall turn from hating.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, mother, bear the pain a-while, as long ago</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">you bore it;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You suffered then to win his smile, and you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">were happier for it;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now you suffer once again, and bear your</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">weight of sorrow;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet you shall thrill with gladness when he wins</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the glad to-morrow.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, mother, when the cannons roar and all the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">brave are fighting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Remember that the son you bore the wrongs</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of earth is righting;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Remember through the hours of pain that he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">with all his brothers</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is battling there to win again a happy world</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">for mothers.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="He_Should_Meet_a_Mother_There" id="He_Should_Meet_a_Mother_There"></a><i>He Should Meet a Mother There</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If he should meet a mother there</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Along some winding Flanders road,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No extra touch of grief or care</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He'll add unto her heavy load.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he will kindly take her arm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And tender as her son will be;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He'll lead her from the path of harm</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Because of me.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be she the mother of his foe,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He will not speak to her in hate;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My boy will never stoop so low</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As motherhood to desecrate.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But she shall know what once I knew—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Eyes that are glorious to see,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The light of manhood shining through—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Because of me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will salute her as they meet,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And stand before her bare of head;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If she be hungry, she may eat</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His last remaining bit of bread.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She'll find those splendid arms and strong</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Quick to assist her, tenderly,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they will guard her from all wrong</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Because of me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I miss his thoughtful, loving care;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I miss his smile these dreary days;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But should he meet a mother there,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Helpless and lost in war's grim maze,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She need not fear to take his arm,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As though she'd reared him at her knee;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My son will shield her from all harm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Because of me.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Fathers_Tribute" id="A_Fathers_Tribute"></a><i>A Father's Tribute</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I don't know what they'll put him at, or what</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">his post may be;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I cannot guess the task that waits for him across</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the sea,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I have known him through the years, and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">when there's work to do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I know he'll meet his duty well, I'll swear that</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">he'll be true.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sometimes fear that he may die, but never that</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">he'll shirk;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If death shall want him death must go and take</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">him at his work;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This splendid sacrifice he makes is filled with</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">terrors grim,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I have many thoughts of fear, but not one</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">fear of him.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The foe may rob my life of joy, the foe may</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">take my all,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And desolate my days shall be if he shall have to</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">fall.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But this I know, whate'er may be the grief that</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">I must face,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Upon his record there will be no blemish of</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">disgrace.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His days have all been splendid days, there lies</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">no broken trust</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Along the pathway of his youth to molder in</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the dust;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Honor and truth have marked his ways, in him</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">I can be glad;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is as fine and true a son as ever a father had.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Runner_McGee" id="Runner_McGee"></a><i>Runner McGee</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(Who had "Return if Possible" Orders.)</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"You've heard a good deal of the telephone</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">wires," he said as we sat at our ease,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And talked of the struggle that's taking men's</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">lives in these terrible days o'er the seas,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"But I've been through the thick of the thing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and I know when a battle's begun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It isn't the phone you depend on for help. It's</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the legs of a boy who can run.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"It isn't because of the phone that I'm here.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">To-day you are talking to me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because of the grit and the pluck of a boy. His</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">title was Runner McGee.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We were up to our dead line an' fighting alone;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">some plan had miscarried, I guess,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the help we were promised had failed to</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">arrive. We were showing all signs of</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">distress.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Our curtain of fire was ahead of us still, an'</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">theirs was behind us an' thick,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An' there wasn't a thing we could do for ourselves—the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">few of us left had to stick.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You haven't much chance to get central an' talk</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">on the phone to the music of guns;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gettin' word to the chief is a matter right then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">that is up to the fellow who runs.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I'd sent four of 'em back with the R. I. P.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">sign, which means to return if you can,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But none of 'em got through the curtain of fire;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">my hurry call died with the man.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then Runner McGee said he'd try to get through.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">I hated to order the kid</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On his mission of death; thought he'd never get</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">by, but somehow or other he did.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Yes, he's dead. Died an hour after bringing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">us word that the chief was aware of our plight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An' for us to hang on to the ditch that we held;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the reserves would relieve us at night.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then we stuck to our trench an' we stuck to our</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">guns; you know how you'll fight when you know</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That new strength is coming to fill up the gaps.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">There's heart in the force of your blow.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"It wasn't till later I got all the facts. They</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">wanted McGee to remain.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They begged him to stay. He had cheated death</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">once an' was foolish to try it again.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'R. I. P. are my orders,' he answered them all,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">'an' back to the boys I must go;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Four of us died comin' out with the news. It</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">will help them to know that you know.'"</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Girl_He_Left_Behind" id="The_Girl_He_Left_Behind"></a><i>The Girl He Left Behind</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We used to think her frivolous—you know how</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">parents are,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A little quick to see the faults and petty flaws</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">that mar</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The girl their son is fond of and may choose</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">to make his wife,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A little overjealous of the one who'd share his</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">life;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the girl he left behind him when he bravely</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">marched away</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Has blossomed into beauty that we see and need</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">to-day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She was with us at the depot, and we turned our</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">backs a-while,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And her eyes were sad and misty, though she</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">tried her best to smile.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then she put her arm round mother, and it</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">seemed to me as though</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They just grew to love each other, for they</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">shared a common woe.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now she often comes to see us, and it seems</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">to me we find</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A heap of solid comfort in the girl he left behind.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"She's so sensible and gentle," mother said last</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">night to me,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The kind of girl I've often wished and prayed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">his wife would be.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I like to have her near us, for she understands</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">my sighs</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I see my brave boy smiling when I look into</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">her eyes."</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now the presence of his sweetheart seems to fill</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">our home with joy.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She's no longer young and flighty—she's the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">girl who loves our boy.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Patriotic_Creed" id="A_Patriotic_Creed"></a><i>A Patriotic Creed</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To serve my country day by day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At any humble post I may;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To honor and respect her Flag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To live the traits of which I brag;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To be American in deed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As well as in my printed creed.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To stand for truth and honest toil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To till my little patch of soil</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And keep in mind the debt I owe</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To them who died that I might know</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My country, prosperous and free,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And passed this heritage to me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I must always in trouble's hour</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be guided by the men in power;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For God and country I must live,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My best for God and country give;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No act of mine that men may scan</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must shame the name American.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To do my best and play my part,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">American in mind and heart;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To serve the flag and bravely stand</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To guard the glory of my land;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To be American in deed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant me strength to keep this creed.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="His_Room" id="His_Room"></a><i>His Room</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His room is as it used to be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Before he went away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The walls still keep the pennants he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Brought home but yesterday.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The picture of his baseball team</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Still holds its favored spot,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And oh, it seems a dreadful dream</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This age of shell and shot!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His golf clubs in the corner stand;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His tennis racket, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That once the pressure of his hand</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In times of laughter knew</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is in the place it long has kept</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For us to look upon.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The room is as it was, except</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The boy, himself, has gone.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pictures of his girls are here,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Still smiling as of yore,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And everything that he held dear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is treasured as before.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into his room his mother goes</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As usual, day by day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cares for it, although she knows</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our boy is far away.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We keep it as he left it, when</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He bade us all good-bye,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though I confess that, now and then,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We view it with a sigh.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For never night shall thrill with joy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor day be free from gloom</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Until once more our soldier boy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shall occupy his room.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Envy" id="Envy"></a><i>Envy</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's a bigger thing you're doing than the most of us have done;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have lived the days of pleasure; now the gray days have begun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And upon your manly shoulders fall the burdens of the strife;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yours must be the sacrifices of the trial time of life.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I don't know how to say it, but I'll never think of you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Without wishing I were sharing in the work you have to do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have never known a moment that was fraught with real care,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Save the hurts and griefs of sorrow that all mortals have to bear;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the gay and smiling marchers I have tramped on pleasant ways,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And have paid with feeble service for the gladness of my days.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But to you has come a summons, yours are days of sacrifice,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And for all life has of sweetness you must pay a bitter price.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Men have fought and died before me, men must fight and die to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have merely taken pleasures for which others had to pay;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have been a man of laughter, there's no path my feet have made,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have merely been a marcher in life's gaudy dress parade.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But you wear the garb of service, you have splendid deeds to do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You shall sound the depths of manhood, and my boy, I envy you.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="For_Your_Boy_and_Mine" id="For_Your_Boy_and_Mine"></a><i>For Your Boy and Mine</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your dream and my dream is not that we shall rest,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But that our children after us shall know life at its best;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For all we care about ourselves—a crust of bread or two,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A place to sleep and clothes to wear is all that we'd pursue.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We'd tramp the world on sunny days, both light of heart and mind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And give no thought to days to come or days we leave behind.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your dream and my dream is not that we shall play,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But that our children after us shall tread a merry way.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We brave the toil of life for them, for them we clamber high,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if 'twould spare them hurt and pain, for them we'd gladly die.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we had but ourselves to serve, we'd quit the ways of pride</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with the simplest joys of earth we'd all be satisfied.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The best for them is what we dream. Our little girls and boys</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must know the finest life can give of comforts and of joys.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They must be shielded well from woe and kept secure from care,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if we could, upon our backs, their burdens we would bear.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so once more we rise to-day to face the battle zone</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That those who follow us may know the Flag that we have known.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your dream and my dream is not that we shall live;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The greatest joys we hope to claim are those that we shall give.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We face the heat and strife of life, its battle and its toil</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That those who follow us may know the best of freedom's soil.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if we knew that by our death we'd keep that flag on high,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For your boy and my boy, how gladly we would die.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Soldierly" id="Soldierly"></a><i>Soldierly</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The glory of a soldier—and a soldier's not a saint—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is the way he does his duty without grumbling or complaint;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His work's not always pleasant, but he does it rain or shine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he grabs a bit of glory when he's fighting in the line;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the lesson that he teaches every day to me an' you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is the way to do a duty that we do not like to do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Any sort o' chap can whistle when his work is mostly fun;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A hundred want the pleasant jobs to every sturdy one</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That'll grab the dreary duty an' the mean an' lowly task,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or the drab an' cheerless service that life often has to ask;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But somebody has to do it, an' the test of me an' you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is the way we face the labor that we do not like to do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now, it isn't very pleasant standin' guard out in the rain</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But it's in the line o' duty, an' no soldier will complain,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An' there isn't any soldier but what sometimes hates his work</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the dress parade is over, an' perhaps he'd like to shirk,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he's there to follow orders, not to pick an' choose his post,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An' he sometimes shines the finest at the job he hates the most.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let's be soldiers in the struggle, let's be loyal through and through;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life is going to give us duties that perhaps we'll hate to do.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There'll be little sacrifices that we will not like to make,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There'll be many tasks unpleasant that will fall to us to take.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An' although we all would rather do the work that brings applause,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let's forget our whims and fancies an' just labor for the cause.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Alarm" id="The_Alarm"></a><i>The Alarm</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Get off your downy cots of ease,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">There's work that must be done.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Great danger's riding on the seas.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The storm is coming on.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't think that it will quickly pass.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who smiles at distant fate,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And waits until it strikes, alas!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Has roused himself too late.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who thinks the fight will end before</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The need of him arrives,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is lengthening this brutal war</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And costing many lives.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For over us that storm shall break</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ere many weeks have fled,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we shall pay for our mistake</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In fields of mangled dead.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be ready when the foe shall near,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be there to strike him hard;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us, though he be miles from here,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be standing now on guard.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-morrow's victories won't be won</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By pluck that we display</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-morrow when the foe comes on,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But by our work to-day.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Boy_Enlists" id="The_Boy_Enlists"></a><i>The Boy Enlists</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother's eyes are saddened, and her cheeks</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">are stained with tears,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I'm facing now the struggle that I've</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">dreaded through the years;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the boy that was our baby has been changed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">into a man.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's enlisted in the army as a true American.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He held her for a moment in his arms before</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">he spoke,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I watched him as he kissed her, and it</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">seemed to me I'd choke,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I knew just what was coming, and I knew</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">just what he'd done!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Another little mother had a soldier for a son.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When we'd pulled ourselves together, and the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">first quick tears had dried,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We could see his eyes were blazing with the fire</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of manly pride;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We could see his head was higher than it ever</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">was before,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For we had a man to cherish, and our baby was</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">no more.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I don't know how to say it! With the sorrow</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">comes the joy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That there isn't any coward in the make-up of</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">our boy.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with pride our hearts are swelling, though</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">with grief they're also hit,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the boy that was our baby has stepped</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">forth to do his bit,</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Mother_Faith" id="The_Mother_Faith"></a><i>The Mother Faith</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little mother, life's adventure calls your boy away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet he will return to you on some brighter day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dry your tears and cease to sigh, keep your mother smile,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brave and strong he will come back in a little while.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little mother, heed them not—they who preach despair—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You shall have your boy again, brave and oh, so fair!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life has need of him to-day, but with victory won,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Safely life shall bring to you once again your son.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little mother, keep the faith: not to death he goes;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Share with him the joy of worth that your soldier knows.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is giving to the Flag all that man can give,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if you believe he will, surely he will live.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little mother, through the night of his absence long,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Never cease to think of him—brave and well and strong;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You shall know his kiss again, you shall see his smile,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For your boy shall come to you in a little while.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Thoughts_of_a_Soldier" id="Thoughts_of_a_Soldier"></a><i>Thoughts of a Soldier</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Since men with life must purchase life</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And some must die that more may live,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unto the Great Cashier of strife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A fine accounting let me give.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Perhaps to-morrow I shall stand</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Before his cage, prepared to buy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">New splendor for my native land:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oh, God, then bravely let me die!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If after I shall fall, shall rise</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A fairer land than I have known,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I shall not grudge my sacrifice,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Although I pay the price alone.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If still more beautiful to see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Stars and Stripes o'er men shall wave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And finer shall my country be,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To-morrow let me find my grave.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-night life seems so fair and sweet,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Yet tyranny is stalking here,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hate and lust and foul deceit</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hang heavy on the atmosphere.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Injustice seeks to throttle right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And laughter's stifled to a sigh.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If death can take so great a blight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From human lives, then let me die.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If death must be the cost of life,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And freedom's terms are human souls,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into the thickest of the strife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Then let me go to pay the tolls.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I would enrich my native land,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">New splendor to her flag I'd give,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If where I fall shall freedom stand,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And where I die shall freedom live.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-morrow death with me may trade;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let me not quibble o'er the price;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But may I, once the bargain's made,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With courage meet the sacrifice.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If happiness for ages long</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My little term of life can buy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God, for my country make me strong;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To-morrow let me bravely die.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Flag_on_the_Farm" id="The_Flag_on_the_Farm"></a><i>The Flag on the Farm</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We've raised a flagpole on the farm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And flung Old Glory to the sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it's another touch of charm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That seems to cheer the passer-by,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But more than that, no matter where</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We're laboring in wood and field,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We turn and see it in the air,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our promise of a greater yield.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It whispers to us all day long</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From dawn to dusk: "Be true, be strong;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who falters now with plough or hoe</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gives comfort to his country's foe."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It seems to me I've never tried</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To do so much about the place,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor been so slow to come inside,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But since I've got the Flag to face,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each night when I come home to rest</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I feel that I must look up there</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And say: "Old Flag, I've done my best,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To-day I've tried to do my share."</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sometimes, just to catch the breeze,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I stop my work, and o'er the trees</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Glory fairly shouts my way:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"You're shirking far too much to-day!"</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The help have caught the spirit, too;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The hired man takes off his cap</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Before the old red, white and blue,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Then to the horses says: "Giddap!"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And starting bravely to the field</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He tells the milkmaid by the door:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"We're going to make these acres yield</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">More than they've ever done before."</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She smiles to hear his gallant brag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then drops a curtsey to the Flag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in her eyes there seems to shine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A patriotism that is fine.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'We've raised a flagpole on the farm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And flung Old Glory to the sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We're far removed from war's alarm,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But courage here is running high.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We're doing things we never dreamed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We'd ever find the time to do;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Deeds that impossible once seemed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Each morning now we hurry through.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Flag now waves above our toil</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sheds its glory on the soil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And boy and man look up to it</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As if to say: "I'll do my bit!"</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Mother_on_the_Sidewalk" id="The_Mother_on_the_Sidewalk"></a><i>The Mother on the Sidewalk</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The mother on the sidewalk as the troops are marching by</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is the mother of Old Glory that is waving in the sky.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Men have fought to keep it splendid, men have died to keep it bright,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But that flag was born of woman and her sufferings day and night;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis her sacrifice has made it, and once more we ought to pray</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the brave and loyal mother of the boy that goes away.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are days of grief before her, there are hours that she will weep,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are nights of anxious waiting when her fear will banish sleep;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She has heard her country calling and has risen to the test,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And has placed upon the altar of the nation's need, her best.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And no man shall ever surfer in the turmoil of the fray</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The anguish of the mother of the boy who goes away.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You may boast men's deeds of glory, you may tell their courage great,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But to die is easier service than alone to sit and wait,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I hail the little mother, with the tear-stained face and grave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who has given the Flag a soldier—she's the bravest of the brave.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And that banner we are proud of, with its red and blue and white</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is a lasting tribute holy to all mothers' love of right.</span><br /><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Big_Deeds" id="The_Big_Deeds"></a><i>The Big Deeds</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We are done with little thinking and we're done with little deeds,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We are done with petty conduct and we're done with narrow creeds;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have grown to men and women, and we've noble work to do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And to-day we are a people with a larger point of view.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a big way we must labor, if our Flag shall always fly.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a big way some must suffer, in a big way some must die.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There must be no little dreaming in the visions that we see,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There must be no selfish planning in the joys that are to be;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'We have set our faces eastwards to the rising of the sun</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That shall light a better nation, and there's big work to be done.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the petty souls and narrow, seeking only selfish gain,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall be vanquished by the toilers big enough to suffer pain.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's a big task we have taken; 'tis for others we must fight.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must see our duty clearly in a white and shining light;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must quit our little circles where we've moved in little ways,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And work, as men and women, for the bigger, better days.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must quit our selfish thinking and our narrow views and creeds.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as people, big and splendid, we must do the bigger deeds.</span><br /><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Wrist_Watch_Man" id="The_Wrist_Watch_Man"></a><i>The Wrist Watch Man</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is marching dusty highways and he's riding bitter trails,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His eyes are clear and shining and his muscles hard as nails.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is wearing Yankee khaki and a healthy coat of tan,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the chap that we are backing is the Wrist Watch Man.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's no parlor dude, a-prancing, he's no puny pacifist,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it's not for affectation there's a watch upon his wrist.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's a fine two-fisted scrapper, he is pure American,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the backbone of the nation is the Wrist Watch Man.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is marching with a rifle, he is digging in a trench,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is swapping English phrases with a poilu for his French;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You will find him in the navy doing anything he can,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For at every post of duty is the Wrist Watch Man.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, the time was that we chuckled at the soft and flabby chap</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who wore a little wrist watch that was fastened with a strap.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the chuckles all have vanished, and with glory now we scan</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The courage and the splendor of the Wrist Watch Man.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is not the man we laughed at, not the one who won our jeers,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's the man that we are proud of, he's the man that owns our cheers;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's the finest of the finest, he's the bravest of the clan,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I pray for God's protection for our Wrist Watch Man.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Follow_the_Flag" id="Follow_the_Flag"></a><i>Follow the Flag</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Aye, we will follow the Flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Wherever she goes,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into the tropic sun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Into the northern snows;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Go where the guns ring out</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Scattering steel and lead,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Painting the hills with blood,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Strewing the fields with dead.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But in each heart must be,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And back of each bitter gun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Love for the best in life</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">After the fighting's done.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Aye, we will follow the Flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Into benighted lands,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brave in the faith for which,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Proudly, our banner stands.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life for her life we'll pay,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blood for her blood we'll give,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fighting, but not to kill,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Save that the best shall live.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But, when the cannon's roar</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dies in a hymn of peace,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Justice and truth must reign,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Power of the brute must cease.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Aye, we will follow the Flag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Gladly her work we'll do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Banishing wrongs of old,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Founding the truth anew.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What though our guns must speak,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">What though brave men must die,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ages of truth to come</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All this shall justify.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Men in the charms of peace,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Basking in Freedom's sun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some day shall bless our Flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">After our work is done.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Aye, we will follow the Flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Wherever she goes,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into the tropic sun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Into the northern snows.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fearlessly, on we'll go</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Into the cruel strife,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gladly the few shall die,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Winning for many, life.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tyranny's wrongs must cease,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Brutes must no longer brag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This is our work on earth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So we will follow the Flag.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Weve_Had_a_Letter_From_the_Boy" id="Weve_Had_a_Letter_From_the_Boy"></a><i>We've Had a Letter From the Boy</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We've had a letter from the boy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And oh, the gladness and the joy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It brought to us! We read it o'er</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd say a dozen times or more.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We laughed until the teardrops fell</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At all the fun he had to tell.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's in the navy, wearing blue,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And everything is all so new</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That he can see in youthful style</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The funny things to make us smile.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's working hard! Between the lines</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We gather that. The brass he shines</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Without complaining, and the food</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He gets to eat is very crude.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet he laughs at all his chores.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He says the maid who scrubs our floors</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will have to quit when he returns</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unless a better way she learns.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I've got it on the fairer sex,"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Says he, "since I am swabbing decks."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"A sailor's life, dear Mom," writes he,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Is not the life you picked for me.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet I'm getting fat and strong</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And learning as I go along</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That any life a man can find</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is apt to grow to be a grind</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unless a fellow has the wit</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see the brighter side of it.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't worry for your sailor son;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He sleeps well when his work is done."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We've had a letter from the boy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And oh, the gladness and the joy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It brought to us! 'Twas good to know</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That he is facing duty so.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Between the lines that he had penned</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother's bitter fears to end,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I saw his manhood glowing bright,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now I know his heart is right.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Behind the laughter I could see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My boy's the man I'd hoped he'd be.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Exempt" id="Exempt"></a><i>Exempt</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They have said you needn't go to the front to face the foe;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They have left you with jour women and your children safe at home;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They have spared you from the crash of the murderous guns that flash</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the horrors and the madness and the death across the foam.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But it's your fight, just the same, and your country still must claim</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The splendor of your manhood and the best that you can do;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a thousand different ways through the dark and troubled days,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You must stand behind the nation that has been so good to you.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You're exempt from shot and shell, from the havoc and the hell</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That have robbed the world of gladness; you have missed the sterner fate</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the brave young men and fine, that are falling into line,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You may stay among your children who are swinging on the gate.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But you're not exempt from love of the Flag that flies above,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You've a greater obligation to your country to be true;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You must work from day to day in a bigger, better way</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the glory of the nation that has been so good to you.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You are not exempt from trial, from long days of self-denial,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From devotion to your homeland and from courage in the test.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You are not exempt from giving to your country's needs and living</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As a citizen and soldier—an example of the best.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You've a harder task before you than the boys who're fighting for you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You must match their splendid courage and devotion through and through;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You must prove by fine endeavor, and by standing constant ever</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That you're worthy of the country that has been so good to you.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Duty" id="Duty"></a><i>Duty</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We know not where the path may lead nor what the end may be,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The clouds are dark above us now, the future none can see,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet when all the storms have passed, and cannons cease to roar,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall be prouder of our flag than we have been before.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We could not longer idle stay, spectators of a wrong,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The weak were crying out for help against oppression strong;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And though we pray we may be spared the bitterness of strife,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twere better that we die than live the coward's feeble life.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We could not longer silent sit, our glory at an end,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And blind ourselves unto the wrongs committed by a friend;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must be tolerant with all, yet in these days of hate,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some things have happened that it would be shame to tolerate.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now we stand before the world, erect and calm and grave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And speak the words that decency must rule the land and wave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into the chaos of despair we fling ourselves to-day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As guardians of a precious trust hate must not sweep away.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must rejoice, if we are men, not weak and soft of heart</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That we have heeded duty's call, and taken up our part.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when at last sweet peace shall come, and all the strife is o'er,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall be prouder of our flag than we have been before,</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Prayer" id="A_Prayer"></a><i>A Prayer</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant to us the strength of men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The patience of the brave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wisdom to be silent, when</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The days with doubt are grave.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When dangers come, as come they must,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Throughout the trying hours</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us continue still to trust</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That triumph shall be ours.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have foresworn our days of ease</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To battle for the right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To venture over troubled seas</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oppression's wrongs to fight.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we have pledged ourselves to grief,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bitter hurt and pain,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then must we cling to this belief:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We suffer not in vain.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant to us the strength of men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">God help us to be true</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Until that glorious morning when</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The world shall smile anew.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall be tested sore and tried,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And flayed by many fears,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet let us in this faith abide,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That right shall rule the years.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Sympathy" id="Sympathy"></a><i>Sympathy</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One came to the house with a pretty speech:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"It's all for the best," said he,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I know that he sought my heart to reach,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And I know that he grieved with me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I was too full of my sorrow then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To list to his words or care;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though I've tried I cannot recall again</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The comfort he gave me there.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But another came, and his lips were dumb</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As he grasped me by the hand,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he stammered: "Old man, I had to come,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oh, I hope you'll understand."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ever since then I have felt his hand</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Clasped tightly in my own,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And to-day his silence I understand—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My sorrowing he had known.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Hate" id="Hate"></a><i>Hate</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They say we must not hate, nor fight in hate.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I've thought it over many a solemn hour,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cannot mildly view the man or state</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That has no thought, save only to be great;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I cannot love the creature drunk with power.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I hate the hand that slaughters babes at sea,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I hate that will that orders wives to die.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And there is something rises up in me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When brutes run wild in crime and lechery</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That soft adjustments will not satisfy.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Men seldom fight the things they do not hate;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A vice grows strong on mildly tempered scorn;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rank thrives the weed the gardeners tolerate;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You cannot stroke the snake that lies in wait,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And change his nature with to-morrow's morn.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If roses are to bloom, the weeds must go;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Vice be dethroned if virtue is to reign;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Honor and shame together cannot grow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sin either conquers or we lay it low,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Wrong must be hated if the truth remain.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I hold that we must fight this war in hate—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In bitter hate of blood in fury spilled;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of children, bending over book and slate,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Slaughtered to make a Prussian despot great;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In hate of mothers pitilessly killed.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In hate of liars plotting wars for gain;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In hate of crimes too black for printed page;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In hate of wrongs that mark the tyrant's reign—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And crush forever all within his train.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Such hate shall be the glory of our age.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="General_Pershing" id="General_Pershing"></a><i>General Pershing</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He isn't long on speeches. At the banquet table, he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Could name a dozen places where he would much rather be.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's not one for fuss and feathers or for marching in review,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he's busy every minute when he's got a job to do.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you'll find him in the open, fighting hard and fighting square</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the glory of his country when his boys get over there.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He has listened to the cheering of the splendid folks of France,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he knows that he's the leader of America's advance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he knows his task is mighty and that words will not avail,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So he's standing to his duty, for he isn't there to fail.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you'll find him cool and steady when the guns begin to flare,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he'll talk in deeds of glory when his boys get over there.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He has gone to face the fury of the Prussian hordes that sweep</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O'er the fertile fields of Freedom, where the forms of heroes sleep,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it seems no time for talking or for laughter or for cheers,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the wounded all about him and their moaning in his ears.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is waiting for to-morrow, waiting there to do his share,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he'll strike a blow for freedom when his boys get over there.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Better_Thing" id="The_Better_Thing"></a><i>The Better Thing</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is better to die for the flag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For its red and its white and its blue,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than to hang back and shirk and to lag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And let the flag sink out of view.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is better to give up this life</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the heat and the thick of the strife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than to live out your days 'neath a sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where Old Glory shall never more fly.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The peace that we long for will be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Far worse than the war that we dread</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If never again we're to see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The blue, and the white and the red</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wind-tossed and sun-kissed in the skies.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If ever the Stars and Stripes dies</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or loses its lustre and pride,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall wish in our souls we had died.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is better by far that we die</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Than that flag shall pass out of the world;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If ever it ceases to fly,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If ever it's hauled down and furled,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dishonor shall stamp us with shame</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And freedom be naught but a name,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the few years of dearly-bought breath</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will be filled with worse horrors than death.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="To_a_Lady_Knitting" id="To_a_Lady_Knitting"></a><i>To a Lady Knitting</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little woman, hourly sitting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Something for a soldier knitting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What in fancy can you see?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Many pictures come to me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through the stitch that now you're making:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I behold a bullet breaking;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I can see some soldier lying</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In that garment slowly dying,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And that very bit of thread</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In your fingers, turns to red.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gray to-day; perhaps to-morrow</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Crimsoned by the blood of sorrow.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It may be some hero daring</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall that very thing be wearing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he ventures forth to give</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life that other men may live.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He may braver wield the saber</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As a tribute to your labor,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And for that, which you have knitted,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Better for his task be fitted.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the thread has left your finger,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Something of yourself may linger,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Something of your lovely beauty</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May sustain him in his duty.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some one's boy that was a baby</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soon shall wear it, and it may be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will write and tell his mother</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the kindness of another,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And her spirit shall caress you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And her prayers at night shall bless you.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You may never know its story,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cannot know the grief or glory</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That are destined now and hover</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Over him your wool shall cover,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor what spirit shall invade it</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once your gentle hands have made it.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little woman, hourly sitting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Something for a soldier knitting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis no common garb you're making,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">These, no common pains you're taking.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Something lovely, holy, lingers</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O'er the needles in your fingers</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with every stitch you're weaving</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Something of yourself you're leaving.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From your gentle hands and tender</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There may come a nation's splendor,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And from this, your simple duty,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life may win a fairer beauty.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Good_Soldier" id="A_Good_Soldier"></a><i>A Good Soldier</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He writes to us most every day, and how his letters thrill us!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I can't describe the joys with which his quaint expressions fill us.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He says the military life is not of his selection,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's only soldiering to-day to give the Flag protection.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But since he's in the army now and doing duties humble,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He'll do what all good soldiers must, and he will never grumble.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's not so keen for standing guard, a lonely vigil keeping,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"But when I must," he writes to us, "they'll never find me sleeping!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I hear a lot of boys complain about the tasks they set us</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And there's no doubt that mother's meals can beat the ones they get us,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But since I'm here to do my bit, close to the job I'm sticking;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'll take whatever comes my way and waste no word in kicking.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I'd like to be a captain, dad, a major or a colonel,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to get my picture in some illustrated journal;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I don't exactly fancy jobs that now and then come my way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like picking bits of rubbish up that desecrate the highway.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But still I'll do those menial tasks as cheerfully as could one,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For while I am a private here I'm going to be a good one.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"A soldier's life is not the way I'd choose to make my living,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now I'm in the ranks to serve, my best to it I'm giving.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I could name a dozen jobs that I'd consider finer,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But since I've got this one to do I'll never be a whiner.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'm just a private in the ranks, but take it from my letter,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They'll never fire your son for one who'll do his duty better."</span><br /><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="His_Santa_Claus" id="His_Santa_Claus"></a><i>His Santa Claus</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will not come to him this year with all his old-time joy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An imitation Santa Claus must serve his little boy;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Last year he heard the reindeers paw the roof above his head,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as he dreamed the kindly saint tip-toed about his bed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But Christmas Eve he will not come by any happy chance;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This year his kindly Santa Claus must guard a trench in France.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother bravely tries to smile; last Christmas Eve was gay;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Last Christmas morn his daddy rose at dawn with him to play;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This year he'll hang his stocking by the chimney, but the hands</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That filled it with the joys he craved now serve in foreign lands.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is too young to understand his mother's troubled glance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he that was his Santa Claus is in a trench in France.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Somewhere in France this Christmas Eve a soldier brave will be,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all that night in fancy he will trim a Christmas tree;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all that night he'll live again the joys that once he had</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he was good St. Nicholas unto a certain lad.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he will wonder if his boy, by any sad mischance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will find his stocking empty just because he serves in France.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Show_the_Flag" id="Show_the_Flag"></a><i>Show the Flag</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show the flag and let it wave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As a symbol of the brave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let it float upon the breeze</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As a sign for each who sees</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That beneath it, where it rides,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Loyalty to-day abides.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show the flag and signify</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That it wasn't born to die;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let its colors speak for you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That you still are standing true,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">True in sight of God and man</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the work that flag began.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show the flag that all may see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That you serve humanity.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let it whisper to the breeze</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That comes singing through the trees</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That whatever storms descend</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You'll be faithful to the end.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show the flag and let it fly,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cheering every passer-by—Men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">that may have stepped aside,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May have lost their old-time pride,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May behold it there, and then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Consecrate themselves again.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show the flag! The day is gone</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When men blindly hurry on</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Serving only gods of gold;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now the spirit that was cold</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Warms again to courage fine.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show the flag and fall in line!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Honor_Roll" id="The_Honor_Roll"></a><i>The Honor Roll</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The boys upon the honor roll, God bless them all, I pray!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God watch them when they sleep at night, and guard them through the day.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We've stamped their names upon our walls, the list in glory grows,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our brave boys and our splendid boys who stand to meet our foes.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, here are sons of mothers fair and fathers fine and true,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little ones of yesterday, the children that we knew;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We thought of them as youngsters gay, still laughing at their games,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then we found the honor roll emblazoned with their names.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We missed their laughter and their cheer; it seems but yesterday</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We had them here to walk with us, and now they've marched away.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And here where once their smiles were seen we keep a printed scroll;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The absent boy we long to see is on the honor roll.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So quickly did the summons come we scarcely marked the change,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One day life marched its normal pace, the next all things seemed strange,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when we questioned where they were, the sturdiest of us all,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We saw the silent honor roll on each familiar wall.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The laughter that we knew has gone; the merry voice of youth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No longer rings where graybeards sit, discussing sombre truth.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No longer jests are flung about to rouse our weary souls,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For they who meant so much to us are on our honor rolls.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Princess_Pats" id="The_Princess_Pats"></a><i>The Princess Pats</i></h2><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A touch of the plain and the prairie,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A bit of the Motherland, too;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A strain of the fur-trapper wary,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A blend of the old and the new;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A bit of the pioneer splendor</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That opened the wilderness' flats,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A touch of the home-lover, tender,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You'll find in the boys they call Pats.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The glory and grace of the maple,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The strength that is born of the wheat,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pride of a stock that is staple,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The bronze of a midsummer heat;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A blending of wisdom and daring,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The best of a new land, and that's</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The regiment gallantly bearing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The neat little title of Pats.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A bit of the man who has neighbored</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With mountains and forests and streams,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A touch of the man who has labored</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To model and fashion his dreams;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The strength of an age of clean living,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of right-minded fatherly chats,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The best that a land could be giving</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is there in the breasts of the Pats.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="July_the_Fourth_1917" id="July_the_Fourth_1917"></a><i>July the Fourth, 1917</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Time was the cry went round the world:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">America for freedom speaks,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A new flag is to-day unfurled,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An eagle on the mountain shrieks,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A king is failing on his throne,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A race of men defies his power!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And no one could have guessed or known</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The burden of that splendid hour.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A bell rang out that summer day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And men and women stood and heard;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That tongue of brass had more to say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Than could be spoken by a word.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It spoke the thoughts of honest men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It whispered Destiny's intents</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And rang a warning loudly then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To Kings of all the continents.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The old bell in its holy loft</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where pigeons nest, has ceased to swing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet through many a day and oft</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A weary people hear it sing.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That hour long years ago, when first</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">America for freedom fought,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The bonds of slavery were burst:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hour began the reign of thought.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here comes another summer day:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">America is on the sea,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">America has dared to say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That other people shall be free.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No selfish stain her banner mars,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her flag, for truth and right, unfurled,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With every stripe and all its stars</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Still speaks its message to the world</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out where the soldiers fight for men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Out where, for others, heroes die,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out where they storm the Tyrant's den,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Starry Banner lights the sky.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And once again the cry goes out</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That brings the flush of hope to cheeks</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grown pale by bitter war and doubt:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"America for Freedom speaks."</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Spring_in_the_Trenches" id="Spring_in_the_Trenches"></a><i>Spring in the Trenches</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's coming time for planting in that little patch of ground,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where the lad and I made merry as he followed me around;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sun is getting higher, and the skies above are blue,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I'm hungry for the garden, and I wish the war were through.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">But it's tramp, tramp, tramp,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And it's never look behind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">And when you see a stranger's kids,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Pretend that you are blind.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The spring is coming back again, the birds begin to mate;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The skies are full of kindness, but the world is full of hate.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it's I that should be bending now in peace above the soil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With laughing eyes and little hands about to bless the toil.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">But it's fight, fight, fight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And it's charge at double-quick;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">A soldier thinking thoughts of home</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Is one more soldier sick.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Last year I brought the bulbs to bloom and saw the roses bud;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This year I'm ankle deep in mire, and most of it is blood.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Last year the mother in the door was glad as she could be;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-day her heart is full of pain, and mine is hurting me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">But it's shoot, shoot, shoot,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And when the bullets hiss,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Don't let the tears fill up your eyes,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">For weeping soldiers miss.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, who will tend the roses now and who will sow the seeds?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And who will do the heavy work the little garden needs?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And who will tell the lad of mine the things he wants to know,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And take his hand and lead him round the paths we used to go?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">For it's charge, charge, charge,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And it's face the foe once more;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Forget the things you love the most</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">And keep your mind on war.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Bigger_Than_His_Dad" id="Bigger_Than_His_Dad"></a><i>Bigger Than His Dad</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He has heard his country calling, and has fallen into line,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And he's doing something bigger than his daddy ever did;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He has caught a greater vision than the finest one of mine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And I know to-day I'm prouder of than sorry for the kid.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His speech is soft and vibrant with the messages of truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And he says some things of duty that I cannot understand;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It may be that I'm selfish, but this ending of his youth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is not the dream I cherished and it's not the thing I planned.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I only know he's bigger in his uniform to-day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Than I, who stand and watch him as he drills, have ever been;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That he sees a greater vision of life's purpose far away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And a finer goal to die for than my eyes have ever seen.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I wish I felt as he does, wish I had his sense of right;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the vision he possesses I should be supremely glad;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I sometimes start to choking when I think of him at night—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The boy that has grown bigger, yes, and better than his dad.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Boys_Adventure" id="The_Boys_Adventure"></a><i>The Boy's Adventure</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Dear Father," he wrote me from Somewhere in France,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where he's waiting with Pershing to lead the advance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"There's little the censor permits me to tell</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Save the fact that I'm here and am happy and well.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The French people cheered as we marched from our ship</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At the close of a really remarkable trip;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They danced and they screamed and they shouted and ran,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I blush as I write. I was kissed by a man!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I've seen a great deal since I bade you good-bye,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have witnessed a battle far up in the sky;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have heard the dull roar of a long line of guns,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And seen the destruction that's worked by the Huns;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some scenes I'll remember, and some I'll forget,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the welcome he gave me! I'm feeling it yet.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, try to imagine your boy if you can,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As he looked and he felt, being kissed by a man!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Ah, Meestaire!' he cried in a voice that was shrill,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And his queer little eyes with delight seemed to fill,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And before I was wise to the custom, or knew</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just what he was up to, about me he threw</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His arms, and he hugged me, and then with a squeak,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He planted a chaste little kiss on each cheek.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was stocky and strong and his whiskers were tan.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now please keep it dark. I've been kissed by a man."</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Out_of_It_All" id="Out_of_It_All"></a><i>Out of It All</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out of it all shall come splendor and gladness;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out of the madness and out of the sadness,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Clearer and finer the world shall arise.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Why then keep sorrow and doubt in your eyes?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Joy shall be ours when the warfare is over;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Children shall gleefully romp in the clover;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here with our heroes at home and at rest,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall rejoice with the world at its best.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not in vain, not in vain, is our bright banner flying;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not for naught are the sons of our fond mothers dying;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The gloom and despair are not ever to last;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world shall be better when they shall have passed.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So mourn not his absence, but smile and be brave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You shall have him again from the brink of the grave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a wonderful world 'neath a wonderful sun;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He shall come to your arms with his victory won.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Christmas_Box" id="The_Christmas_Box"></a><i>The Christmas Box</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, we have shipped his Christmas box with ribbons red 'tis tied,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he shall find the things he likes from them he loves inside,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he must miss the kisses true and all the laughter gay</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he must miss the smiles of home upon his Christmas Day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He'll spend his Christmas 'neath the Flag; he'll miss each merry face,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Glory smiling down on him must take his mother's place,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet in the Christmas box we've sent, in fancy he will find</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The laughter and the tears of joy that he has left behind.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother's tenderness is there, his father's kindly way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all that went last year to make his merry Christmas Day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He'll see once more his sister's smile, he'll hear the baby shout,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as he opens every gift we'll gather round about.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He cannot come to share with us the joys of Christmas Day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Flag has called to him, and he is serving far away.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Undaunted, unafraid and fine he stands to duty grim,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so this Christmas we have tried to ship ourselves to him.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Plea" id="A_Plea"></a><i>A Plea</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant me these: the strength to do</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Some needed service here;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wisdom to be brave and true;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The gift of vision clear,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That in each task that comes to me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some purpose I may plainly see.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God teach me to believe that I</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Am stationed at a post,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Although the humblest 'neath the sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where I am needed most,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And that, at last, if I do well,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My humble services will tell.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant me faith to stand on guard,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Uncheered, unspoke, alone,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And see behind such duty hard</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My service to the throne.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whate'er my task, be this my creed:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I am on earth to fill a need.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Your_Country_Needs_You" id="Your_Country_Needs_You"></a><i>Your Country Needs You</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The country needs a man like you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It has a task for you to do.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It has a job for you to face.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Somewhere for you it has a place.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not all the slackers dodge the work</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of service where the cannon lurk,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not all the slackers on life's stage</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are boys of military age.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The old, the youthful and unfit</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must also do their little bit.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The country needs a man like you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twill suffer if you prove untrue.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What though you cannot bear a gun?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That isn't all that's to be done.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are a thousand other ways</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To serve your country through the days</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of trial and the nights of storm.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You need not wear a uniform</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or with the men in council sit</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To serve the Flag and do your bit.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Somewhere for you there is a place,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Somewhere you have a task to face.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There's none so helpless or so frail</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That cannot, when our foes assail,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In some way help our common cause</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And be deserving of applause.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Behind the Flag we all must be,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each at his post, awake to see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That in so far as he has striven,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His best was to his country given.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You can be patient, brave and strong,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And not complain when plans go wrong;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You can be cheerful at your toil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or till, perhaps, some patch of soil;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You can encourage others who</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have heavier, greater tasks to do;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You can be loyal, not in creed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Alone, but in each thought and deed;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You can make sacrifices, too.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The country needs a man like you,</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Creed" id="A_Creed"></a><i>A Creed</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To keep in mind from day to day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I'm a soldier in the fray;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I must serve, from sun to sun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As well as he who bears a gun</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The flag that flies above us all,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And answer well my Country's call.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I must not for one hour forget</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unto the Stars and Stripes my debt.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas spotless on' my day of birth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when at last I quit this earth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Glory still must spotless be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For all who follow after me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At some post where my work will fit</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I must with courage do my bit;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some portion of myself I'd give</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That freedom and the Flag may live.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in some way I want to feel</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I am doing service real.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I must in all I say and do</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Respect the red, the white and blue',</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor dim with petty deeds of shame</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The splendor of Old Glory's fame;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I must not let my standards drag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For my disgrace would stain the Flag.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Struggle" id="The_Struggle"></a><i>The Struggle</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life is a struggle for peace,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A longing for rest,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A hope for the battles to cease,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A dream for the best;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he is not living who stays</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Contented with things,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unconcerned with the work of the days</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And all that it brings.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is dead who sees nothing to change,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No wrong to make right;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who travels no new way or strange</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In search of the light;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who never sets out for a goal</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That he sees from afar</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But contents his indifferent soul</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With things as they are.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life isn't rest—it is toil;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It is building a dream;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is tilling a parcel of soil</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or bridging a stream;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's pursuing the light of a star</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That but dimly we see,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in wresting from things as they are</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The joy that should be.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="As_It_Looks_to_the_Boy" id="As_It_Looks_to_the_Boy"></a><i>As It Looks to the Boy</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His comrades have enlisted, but his mother bids him stay,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His soul is sick with coward shame, his head hangs low to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His eyes no longer sparkle, and his breast is void of pride</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I think that she has lost him though she's kept him at her side.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I'm sorry for the mother, but I'm sorrier for the lad</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who must look on life forever as a hopeless dream and sad.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He must fancy men are sneering as they see him walk the street,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will feel his cheeks turn crimson as his eyes another's meet;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the boys and girls that knew him as he was but yesterday,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will not seem to smile upon him, in the old familiar way.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will never blame his mother, but when he's alone at night,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His thoughts will flock to tell him that he isn't doing right.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I'm sorry for the mother from whose side a boy must go,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the strong desire to keep him that she feels, I think I know,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the boy that she's so fond of has a life to live on earth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he hungers to be busy with the work that is of worth.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will sicken and grow timid, he'll be flesh without a heart</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Until death at last shall claim him, if he doesn't do his part.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have you kept him, gentle mother? Has he lost his old-time cheer?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is he silent, sad and sullen? Are his eyes no longer clear?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is he growing weak and flabby who but yesterday was strong?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then a secret grief he's nursing and I'll tell you what is wrong.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All his comrades have departed on their country's noblest work,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he hungers to be with them—it is not his wish to shirk.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Fly_a_Clean_Flag" id="Fly_a_Clean_Flag"></a><i>Fly a Clean Flag</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This I heard the Old Flag say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As I passed it yesterday:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Months ago your friendly hands</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fastened me on slender strands</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with patriotic love</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Placed me here to wave above</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You and yours. I heard you say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On that long departed day:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Flag of all that's true and fine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wave above this house of mine;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be the first at break of day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the last at night to say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the world this word of cheer:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Loyalty abideth here.'</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Here on every wind that's blown,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O'er your" portal I have flown;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rain and snow have battered me,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Storms at night have tattered me;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dust of street and chimney stack</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Day by day have stained me black,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I've watched you passing there,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wondering how much you care.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have you noticed that your flag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is to-day a wind-blown rag?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Has your love so careless grown</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By the long neglect you've shown</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That you never raise your eye</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the symbol that you fly?"</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Flag, on which no stain has been,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis my sin that you're unclean,"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then I answered in my shame.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"On my head must lie the blame.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now with patriotic hands</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I release you from your strands,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And a spotless flag shall fly</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here to greet each passer-by.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nevermore shall Flag of mine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be a sad and sorry sign</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Telling all who look above</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I neglect the thing I love.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But my Flag of faith shall be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fit for every eye to see."</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="To_a_Kindly_Critic" id="To_a_Kindly_Critic"></a><i>To a Kindly Critic</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it's wrong to believe in the land that we love</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And to pray for Our Flag to the good God above;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it's wrong to believe that Our Country is best;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That honor's her standard, and truth is her crest;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If placing her first in our prayers and our song</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is false to true reason, we're glad to be wrong.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it's wrong to wish victory day after day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the troops of Our Country now marching away;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it's wrong to believe they are moved by the right</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And not by the love and the lure of the fight;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If to cheer them to battle and bid them be strong</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is false to right thinking, then let us be wrong.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it's wrong to believe in America's dreams</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of a freedom on earth that's as real as it seems;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it's error to cherish the hope, through and through,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That the Stars in Old Glory's immaculate blue</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall shine through the ages, true beacons to men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We pray that no right phrase shall flow from our pen.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Wars_Homecoming" id="Wars_Homecoming"></a><i>War's Homecoming</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We little thought how much they meant—the bleeding hearts of France,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And British mothers wearing black to mark some troop's advance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The war was, O, so distant then, the grief so far away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We couldn't see the weeping eyes, nor hear the women pray.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We couldn't sense the weight of woe that rested on that land,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now our boy is called to go—to-day, we understand.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There, some have heard the blackest news that o'er the wires has sped,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some are living day by day beneath the clouds of dread;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some fear the worst; some know the worst, but every heart is chilled,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And every soul is sorrow touched and laughter there is stilled.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There, old folks sit alone and grieve and pray for peace to come,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now our little boy has heard the summons of the drum.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their grief was such a distant thing, we made it fruit for speech.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We never thought in days of old such pain our hearts would reach.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We talked of it, as people do of sorrow far aloof,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor dreamed such care would ever dwell beneath our happy roof.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But England's woes are ours to-day, we share the sighs of France;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our little boy is on the sea with Death to take his chance.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Next_of_Kin" id="Next_of_Kin"></a><i>Next of Kin</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I notice when the news comes in</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of one who's claimed eternal glory,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This simple phrase, "the next of kin,"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Concludes the soldier's final story.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This tells the world what voice will choke,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What heart that bit of shrapnel broke,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What father or what mother brave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will think of Flanders as a grave.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The next of kin," the cable cold</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Wastes not a precious word in telling,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet cannot you and I behold</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The sorrow in some humble dwelling,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cannot you and I perceive</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The brave yet lonely mother grieve</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And picture, when that news comes in,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The anguish of "the next of kin?"</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For every boy in uniform,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Another soldier brave is fighting;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A double rank the cannons storm,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Two lines the cables are uniting,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with the hurt each soldier feels,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At home the other warrior reels;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Two suffer, freedom's cause to win:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The soldier and "the next of kin."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, next of kin, be brave, be strong,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As brave as was the boy that's missing;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The years will many be and long</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That you will hunger for his kissing.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet he enlisted you with him</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To share war's bitter price and grim;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your service runs through many years</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because your name with his appears.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="See_It_Through" id="See_It_Through"></a><i>See It Through</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are many to cheer when the battle begins</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">There are many to shout for the right;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are many to rail at the world and its sins</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But few have the grit for the fight.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are thousands to start with a rush for the fray</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the fighting seems easy to do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But when danger is present and rough is the way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The few have to see the job through.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is easy to quit with a battle unwon,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It is hard to press on to success;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is easy to stop with a purpose undone,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It is hard to encounter distress.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And many will march when the roadway is clear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the glorious goal is in view,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the many, too often, when dangers appear,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Aren't willing to see the fight through.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They weaken in spirit when trials grow great,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They flinch at the clashing of steel;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They talk of the strength of the foe at the gate</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And whine at the hurts that they feel.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They begin to regret having ventured for right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They sigh that they dared to be true,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They haven't the heart they once had for the fight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They don't want to see the job through.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have set out to battle for justice and truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We have fearful disasters to meet;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall weep for the best of our manliest youth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We shall suffer the pangs of defeat.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But let us stand firm for the cause that we plead,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let the many be brave with the few;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cry of the quitter let none of us heed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till we've done what we started to do.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Hope" id="Hope"></a><i>Hope</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mine is a song of hope</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">For the days that lie before;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the grander things</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The morrow brings</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">When the struggle days are o'er.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dark be the clouds to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Bitter the winds that blow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But falter nor fail,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the howling gale—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Comes peace in the afterglow.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mine is the song of hope,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">A song for the mother here,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who lulls to rest</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The babe at breast,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">And hopes for a brighter year.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hope is the song she sings,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Hope is the prayer she prays;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As she rocks her boy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">She dreams of the joy</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">He'll bring in the future days.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mine is the song of hope,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">A song for the father, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whose right arm swings,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">While his anvil sings</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">A song of the journey through.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hope is the star that guides,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Hope is the father's sun;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Far ahead he sees,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the waving trees,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Sweet peace when his work is done.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mine is the song of hope,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Of hope that sustains us all;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be we young or old,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be we weak or bold,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Do we falter or even fall,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brightly the star of hope</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">From the distance is shining still;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And with courage new</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We rise to do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">For hope is the God of Will.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Gold_Givers" id="The_Gold_Givers"></a><i>The Gold Givers</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, some shall stand in glory's light when all the strife is done,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And many a mother there shall say, "For truth I gave my son!"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I shall stand in silence then and hear the stories brave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I must answer at the last that gold is all I gave.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When all this age shall pass away, and silenced are the guns,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When sweethearts join their loves again, and mothers kiss their sons,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When brave unto the brave return, and all they did is told,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How pitiful my gift shall seem, when all I gave is gold.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When we are asked what did you then, when all the world was red,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some shall say, "I fell in France," and some, "I mourned my dead;"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With all the brave assembled there in glory long to live,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How trivial our lives shall seem who had but gold to give.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Undaunted" id="The_Undaunted"></a><i>The Undaunted</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He tried to travel No Man's Land, that's guarded well with guns,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He tried to race the road of death, where never a coward runs.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now he's asking of his doctor, and he's panting hard for breath,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How soon he will be ready for another bout with death.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You'd think if you had wakened in a shell hole's slime and mud</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That was partly dirty water, but was mostly human blood,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you had to lie and suffer till the bullets ceased to hum</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the night time dropped its cover, so the stretcher boys could come—</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You'd think if you had suffered from a fever and its thirst,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And could hear the "rapids" spitting and the high explosives burst,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And had lived to tell that story—you could face our fellow men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the little peaceful village, though you never fought again.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You'd think that once you'd fallen in the shrapnel's deadly rain,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once you'd shed your blood for honor, you had borne your share of pain;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once you'd traveled No Man's country, you'd be satisfied to quit</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And be invalided homeward, and could say you'd done your bit.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he's lying, patched and bandaged, very white and very weak,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he's trying to be cheerful, though it's agony to speak;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is pleading with the doctor, though he's panting hard for breath,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To return him to the trenches for another bout with death.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Discovery_of_a_Soul" id="The_Discovery_of_a_Soul"></a><i>The Discovery of a Soul</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The proof of a man is the danger test</i>,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>That shows him up at his worst or best</i>.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He didn't seem to care for work, he wasn't much at school.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His speech was slow and commonplace—you wouldn't call him fool.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet until the war broke out you'd calmly pass him by,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For nothing in his make-up or his way would catch your eye.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He seemed indifferent to the world, the kind that doesn't care—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That's satisfied with just enough to eat and drink and wear;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That doesn't laugh when others do or cry when others weep,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But seems to walk the wakeful world half dormant and asleep;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then came the war, and soldiers marched and drums began to roll,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And suddenly we realized his body held a soul.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We little dreamed how much he loved his Country and her Flag;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the glorious Stars and Stripes we'd never heard him brag.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he was first to volunteer, while brilliant men demurred,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He took the oath of loyalty without a faltering word,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then we found that he could talk, for one remembered night,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There came a preaching pacifist denouncing men who fight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he got up in uniform and looked at him and said:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I wonder if you ever think about our soldiers dead.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All that you are to-day you owe some soldier in his grave;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If he had been afraid to fight, you still would be a slave."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If he had died a year ago beneath a peaceful sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unjust our memory would have been; of him our tongues would lie.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We should have missed his splendid worth, we should have called him frail</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And listed him among the weak and sorry men who fail.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But few regrets had marked his end; he would have passed unmourned—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Perhaps by those who knew him best, indifferently scorned.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now he stands among us all, eyes bright and shoulders true,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A strong defender of the faith; a man with work to do;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if he dies, his name shall find its place on history's scroll;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The great chance has revealed to men the splendor of his soul.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Here_We_Are" id="Here_We_Are"></a><i>Here We Are!</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are, Britain! the finest and best of us</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Taking our coats off and rolling our sleeves,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Answering the thoughtless that once made a jest of us,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each man a soldier for what he believes.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are, tight little island, in unity!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tell us the job that you want us to do!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You can depend on us all with impunity.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Give us a task and we'll all see it through.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are, France! every Yankee born man of us</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Coming to stand by your side in the fight;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Liberty's cause makes a whole-hearted clan of us.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are, willing to die for the right.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Silently, long from our shores we've admired you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Secretly proud of the pluck you've displayed.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brothers we are of the love that inspired you;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now we are coming, full front, to your aid.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are, Allies! make room in your trenches!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shoulder to shoulder we'll share in each drive.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are! quitting our lathes and our benches,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bringing our best that our best shall survive.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are! Liberty's children, red-blooded,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Coming to share in the struggle with you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ready to die for the Flag that's star-studded;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tell us the work that you want us to do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What is it, fighting or building you're needing?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Boring a mountain or bridging a stream,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Steel work and real work? Your call we are heeding.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each of us here is a man with a dream.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are! tacklers of tough jobs and dangers,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Any old post where you put us we'll fit;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Coming to serve you as brothers, not strangers;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we are, Allies! to offer our bit!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="We_Who_Stay_at_Home" id="We_Who_Stay_at_Home"></a><i>We Who Stay at Home</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When you were just our little boy, on many a night we crept</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unto your cot and watched o'er you, and all the time you slept.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We tucked the covers round your form and smoothed your pillow, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sometimes stooped and kissed your cheeks, but that you never knew.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just as we came to you back then through many a night and day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our spirits now shall come to you—to kiss and watch and pray.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whenever you shall look away into God's patch of sky</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To think about the folks at home, we shall be standing by.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as we prayed and watched o'er you when you were wrapped in sleep,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So through your soldier danger now the old-time watch we'll keep.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You will not know that we are there, you will not see or hear,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But all the time in prayer and thought we shall be very near.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world has made of you a man; the work of man you do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But unto us you still remain the baby that we knew;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we shall come, as once we did, on wondrous wings of prayer,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you will never know how oft in spirit we are there.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We'll stand beside your bed at night, in silence bending low,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the love we gave you then shall follow where you go.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, we were proud of you back then, but we are prouder now;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We see the stamp of splendor God has placed upon your brow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we who are the folks at home shall pray the old time prayer,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ask the God of Mercy to protect you with His care.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as we came to you of old, although you never knew,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hearts of us, each day and night, shall come with love to you.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Do_Your_All" id="Do_Your_All"></a><i>Do Your All</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Do your bit!" How cheap and trite</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Seems that phrase in such a fight!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Do your bit!" That cry recall,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Change it now to "Do your all!"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do your all, and then do more;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do what you're best fitted for;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do your utmost, do and give,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You have but one life to live.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do your finest, do your best,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't let up and stop to rest,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't sit back and idly say:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I did something yesterday."</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come on! Here's another hour,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Give it all you have of power.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here's another day that needs</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Everybody's share of deeds.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Do your bit!" of course, but then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do it time and time again;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Giving, doing, all should be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Up to full capacity.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now's no time to pick and choose,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We've a war we must not lose.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be your duty great or small,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do it well and do it all.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do by careful, patient living,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do by cheerful, open giving;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do by serving day by day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At whatever post you may;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do by sacrificing pleasure,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do by scorning hours of leisure.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now to God and country give</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Every minute that you live.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Future" id="The_Future"></a><i>The Future</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The worst is yet to come:"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So wail the doubters glum,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But here's the better view:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My best I've yet to do."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The worst some always fear;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-morrow holds no cheer,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet farther on life's lane</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are joys you shall attain.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Go forward bravely, then,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And play your part as men,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For this is ever true:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Our best we've yet to do."</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Fathers_Prayer" id="A_Fathers_Prayer"></a><i>A Father's Prayer</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sometimes wonder when I read the sorrow in his face</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If I shall wear that look of care when time has marched apace?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My little boy is five years old and his is twenty-one;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My little boy is home with me; his boy to war has gone.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I can laugh and dance with life, and I can gayly jest,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But heavy is the heart to-day that beats within his breast.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Time was, his boy was five years old; time was he smiled as I;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I wonder what awaits for me when youth has journeyed by?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Last night I sat at home and watched my little boy at play,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the time I thought of him whose boy has gone away.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in the joy that I possessed I prayed in silence then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That God would quickly bring him back his little boy again.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Glory_of_Age" id="The_Glory_of_Age"></a><i>The Glory of Age</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"What is the glory of age?" I said,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"A hoard of gold and a few dear friends?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When you've reached the day that you look ahead</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And see the place where your journey ends,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When Time has robbed you of youthful might—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What is the secret of your delight?"</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And an old man smiled as he answered me:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"The glory of age isn't gold or friends,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When we've reached the valley of Soon-To-Be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And note the place where our journey ends;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The glory of age, be it understood,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is a boy out there who is making good.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The greatest joy that can come to man</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When his sight is dim and his hair is gray;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The greatest glory that God can plan</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To cheer the lives of the old to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When they share no more in the battle yell,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is a boy out there who is doing well."</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Beautifying_the_Flag" id="Beautifying_the_Flag"></a><i>Beautifying the Flag</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To us the Flag has little meant.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Each glorious stripe of red</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was woven there to represent</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The blood of heroes dead.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On some dim, distant battle line</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By other men were gained</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The glories that have made it fine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And idle we've remained.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now the Flag shall finer grow</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And ages yet to be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall find the courage that we show</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To-day for liberty.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of other men the Flag has told;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It flies for others' deeds;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Its pride is born of heroes bold</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who served its by-gone needs.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now our blood shall mingle there</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With blood of patriots dead,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And through the years each stripe shall wear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A deeper, truer red.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The splendor of the flag shall gleam</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In every radiant star,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And finer shall the banner seem</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Because of what we are.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-day new glory for the Flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We give our best to build;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of us shall future ages brag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By us their blood be thrilled;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as to us the flag has meant</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The greatness of the past,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Stars and Stripes shall represent</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our courage to the last.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The children in the years to be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our trials shall discuss,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cheer the emblem of the free,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In part, because of us.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="To_the_Men_at_Home" id="To_the_Men_at_Home"></a><i>To the Men at Home</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No war is won by cannon fire alone;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The soldier bears the grim and dreary role;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He dies to serve the Flag that he has known;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His duty is to gain the distant goal.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But if the toiler in his homeland fair</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Falter in faith and shrink from every test,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If he be not on duty ever there,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Lost to the cause is every soldier's best.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The men at home, the toiler in the shop,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The keen-eyed watcher of the spinning drill</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hear no command to vault the trench's top;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">They know not what it is to die or kill,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet they must be brave and constant, too.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Upon them lies their precious country's fate;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They also serve the Flag as soldiers do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis theirs to make a nation's army great.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You hold your country's honor in your care.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her glory you shall help to make or mar;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For they, who now her uniforms must wear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Can be no braver soldiers than you are.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From day to day, in big and little deeds,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">At bench or lathe or desk or stretch of soil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You are the man your country sorely needs!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Will you not give to her your finest toil?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No war is won by cannon fire alone.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The men at home must also share the fight.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By what they are, a nation's strength is shown,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The army but reflects their love of right.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will you not help to hold our battle line,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Will you not give the fullest of your powers</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In sacrifice and service that is fine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That victory shall speedily be ours?</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="From_Laughter_to_Labor" id="From_Laughter_to_Labor"></a><i>From Laughter to Labor</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have wandered afar in our hunting for pleasure,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have scorned the soul's duty to gather up treasure;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have lived for our laughter and toiled for our winning</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And paid little heed to the soul's simple sinning.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But light were the burdens that freighted us then,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God and country, to-day let us prove we are men!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have idled and dreamed in life's merriest places,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The years have writ little of care in our faces;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have brought up our children, expectant of gladness,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And little we've taught them of life and its sadness.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For distant and dim seemed the forces of wrong,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God and country, to-day let us prove we are strong!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have had our glad years, now the sad years are coming,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have danced to gay tunes, now we march to war's drumming.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have laughed and have loved as we pleasantly toiled,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now we must show that our souls are unspoiled.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must work that our Flag shall in honor still wave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God and country, to-day let us prove we are brave!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="United" id="United"></a><i>United</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forgotten petty difference now,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The larger purpose glows,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The storm is here, a common fear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Its deadly lightning shows.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Ship of State must bear us all</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And danger makes us kin,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As one, we all shall rise or fall,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So shall we strive to win.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our banner's flying at the mast,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our course lies straight ahead;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ocean's trough is deep and rough,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The waves are stained with red.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The bond of danger tighter grows,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We serve a common plan;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Send o'er the sea the word that we</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are all American.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One hundred million sturdy souls</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Once more united stand,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As one, you will find them all behind</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The banner of our land.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And side by side they work to-day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In silken garb or rag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And once again our troops of men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are brothers of the flag.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And from the storm that hovers low,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And from the angry sea</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where dangers lurk and hate's at work.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shall come new victory.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The flag shall know not race nor creed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor different bands of men;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A people strong round it shall throng</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To ne'er divide again.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="April_Thoughts" id="April_Thoughts"></a><i>April Thoughts</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen to the laughter of the brook that's racin' by!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Listen to the chatter of the black-birds on the fence!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stand an' see the beauties of the blue that's in the sky—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Then ask of God why mortals haven't any better sense</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than to quarrel an' to battle</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where the guns an' cannon rattle</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An' to slaughter one another an' to fill the world with hate.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God brings the buds to blossom</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where the gentle breezes toss 'em</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An' the soul is blind to beauty that takes anger for its mate.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen to the singin' of the robins in the trees!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">See the sunbeams flashin' where they're mirrored by the stream!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hear the drowsy buzzin' of the honey-seekin' bees,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Then draw a little closer to your God the while you dream.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the world is dressed to cheer you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't you feel Him standin' near you?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When your soul drinks in the beauty of the wonders in His plan,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An' you've put away your passions,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't you think the works He fashions</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In their beauty an' their bigness mock the littleness of man?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I never walk an orchard nor a field with daisies strewn,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An' I never stand bare-headed gazin' everywhere about</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At the living joys around me, be it morning, night or noon,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But I ask God to forgive me that I ever held a doubt.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Surely men must walk in blindness,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the whole world tuned to kindness,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An' all dumb an' feathered creatures fairly bubblin' o'er with glee</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To devote themselves to madness</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That can only end in sadness</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An' to think that they are being what God put them here to be.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Chaplain" id="The_Chaplain"></a><i>The Chaplain</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was just a small church parson when the war broke out, and he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Looked and dressed and acted like all parsons that we see.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He wore the cleric's broadcloth and he hooked his vest behind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he had a man's religion and he had a strong man's mind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he heard the call to duty, and he quit his church and went,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he bravely tramped right with 'em everywhere the boys were sent.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He put aside his broadcloth and he put the khaki on;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Said he'd come to be a soldier and was going to live like one.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then he refereed the prize fights that the boys pulled off at night,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if no one else was handy he'd put on the gloves and fight.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He wasn't there a fortnight ere he saw the soldiers' needs,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he said: "I'm done with preaching; this is now the time for deeds."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He learned the sound of shrapnel, he could tell the size of shell</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the shriek it make above him, and he knew just where it fell.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the front line trench he labored, and he knew the feel of mud,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he didn't run from danger and he wasn't scared of blood.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He wrote letters for the wounded, and he cheered them with his jokes,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he never made a visit without passing round the smokes.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then one day a bullet got him, as he knelt beside a lad</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who was "going west" right speedy, and they both seemed mighty glad,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Cause he held the boy's hand tighter, and he smiled and whispered low,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Now you needn't fear the journey; over there with you I'll go."</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they both passed out together, arm in arm I think they went.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He had kept his vow to follow everywhere the boys were sent.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="My_Part" id="My_Part"></a><i>My Part</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I may never be a hero, I am past the limit now,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are pencil marks of silver Time has left upon my brow;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I shall win no service medals, I shall hear no cannons' roar,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I shall never fight a battle higher up than eagles soar,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I hope my children's children may recall my name with pride</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As a man who never whimpered when his soul was being tried.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the fighting and the dying for the everlasting truth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are the labors designated for the strongest of our youth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the man that's nearing forty isn't asked to march away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For there is no place in battle for the head that's turning gray.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His test is one of patience till the bitter work is done,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He must back his country's leaders till the victory is won.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When this bitter time is ended I don't want to have it said</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I faltered in my courage and I never looked ahead,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I don't want it told I added to the burdens and the woe,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By preaching dismal doctrines that were cheering to the foe;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I want my children's children to respect me and to find</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That my soul was out there fighting, though my body stayed behind.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When this cruel test is over and the boys come back from France</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd not have them say I hindered for a moment their advance;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That they found their duty harder than 'twas needful it should be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because of the complaining of a lot of men like me.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though I'll win no hero's medals and deserve no wild applause,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I want to be of service, not a hindrance to the cause.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Call" id="The_Call"></a><i>The Call</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some will heed the call to arms,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But all must heed the call to grit;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dreamers on the distant farms</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Must rally now to do their bit.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The whirring lathes in factories great</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Will sing the martial songs of strife;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Upon the emery wheel of fate</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We're grinding now the nation's life.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The call is not alone to guns,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This is not but a battle test;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world has summoned free men's sons</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In every field to do their best.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The call has come to every man</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To reach the summit of his powers;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To stand to service where he can;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A mighty duty now is ours.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must be stalwarts in the field</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where peace has always kept her throne,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No door against the need is sealed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No man to-day can live alone.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The young apprentice at the bench,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The wise inventor, old and gray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Serve with the soldier in the trench,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All warriors for the better day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, man of science, unto you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The call for service now has come!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mechanic, banker, lawyer, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Have you not heard the stirring drum?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, humble digger in the ditch,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bend to your spade and do your best,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And prove America is rich</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In manhood fine for every test.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each man beneath the starry flag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Must live his noblest through the strife</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If tyranny is not to drag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Into the mire the best of life.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though some will wear our uniform,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We face to-day a common fate</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all must bravely breast the storm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And heed the call for courage great.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Thanksgiving" id="Thanksgiving"></a><i>Thanksgiving</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For strength to face the battle's might,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For men that dare to die for right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For hearts above the lure of gold</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">And fortune's soft and pleasant way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For courage of our days of old,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Great God of All, we kneel and pray.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We thank Thee for our splendid youth.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who fight for liberty and truth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Within whose breasts there glows anew</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">The glory of the altar fires</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which our heroic fathers knew—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">God make them worthy of their sires!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We thank Thee for our mothers fair</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who through the sorrows they must bear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Still smile, and give their hearts to woe,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Yet bravely heed the day's command—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That mothers, yet to be, may know</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">A free and glorious motherland.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God, we thank Thee for the skies</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where our flag now in glory flies!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We thank Thee that no love of gain</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Is leading us, but that we fight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To keep our banner free from stain</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">And that we die for what is right.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, God, we thank Thee that we may</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lift up our eyes to Thee to-day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We thank Thee we can face this test</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">With honor and a spotless name,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And that we serve a world distressed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Unselfishly and free from shame.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Patriotic_Wish" id="A_Patriotic_Wish"></a><i>A Patriotic Wish</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to be the sort of man the flag could boast about;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to be the sort of man it cannot live without;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to be the type of man</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That really is American:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The head-erect and shoulders-square,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Clean-minded fellow, just and fair,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That all men picture when they see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The glorious banner of the free.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to be the sort of man the flag now typifies,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The kind of man we really want the flag to symbolize;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The loyal brother to a trust,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The big, unselfish soul and just,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The friend of every man oppressed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The strong support of all that's best—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sturdy chap the banner's meant,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where'er it flies, to represent.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to be the sort of man the flag's supposed to mean,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The man that all in fancy see, wherever it is seen;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The chap that's ready for a fight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whenever there's a wrong to right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The friend in every time of need,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The doer of the daring deed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The clean and generous handed man</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That is a real American.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Patriot" id="A_Patriot"></a><i>A Patriot</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's funny when a feller wants to do his little bit,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And wants to wear a uniform and lug a soldier's kit,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ain't afraid of submarines nor mines that fill the sea,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They will not let him go along to fight for liberty</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They make him stay at home and be his mother's darling pet,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But you can bet there'll come a time when they will want me yet.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I want to serve the Stars and Stripes, I want to go and fight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I want to lick the Kaiser good, and do the job up right.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I know the way to use <i>a</i> gun and I can dig a trench</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I would like to go and help the English and the French.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But no, they say, you cannot march away to stirring drums;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be mother's angel boy at home; stay there and twirl your thumbs.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I've read about the daring boys that fight up in the sky;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It seems to me that that must be a splendid way to die.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd like to drive an aeroplane and prove my courage grim</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And get above a German there and drop a bomb on him,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But they won't let me go along to help the latest drive;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They say my mother needs me here because I'm only five.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Memorial_Day" id="Memorial_Day"></a><i>Memorial Day</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The finest tribute we can pay</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unto our hero dead to-day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is not a rose wreath, white and red,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In memory of the blood they shed;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is to stand beside each mound,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each couch of consecrated ground,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And pledge ourselves as warriors true</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unto the work they died to do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into God's valleys where they lie</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At rest, beneath the open sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Triumphant now, o'er every foe,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As living tributes let us go.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No wreath of rose or immortelles</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or spoken word or tolling bells</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will do to-day, unless we give</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our pledge that liberty shall live.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our hearts must be the roses red</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We place above our hero dead;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-day beside their graves we must</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Renew allegiance to their trust;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must bare our heads and humbly say</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We hold the Flag as dear as they,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And stand, as once they stood, to die</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The finest tribute we can pay</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unto our hero dead to-day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is not of speech or roses red,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But living, throbbing hearts instead</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That shall renew the pledge they sealed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With death upon the battlefield:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That freedom's flag shall bear no stain</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And free men wear no tyrant's chain.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Soldier_on_Crutches" id="The_Soldier_on_Crutches"></a><i>The Soldier on Crutches</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He came down the stairs on the laughter-filled grill</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where patriots were eating and drinking their fill,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The tap of his crutch on the marble of white</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Caught my ear as I sat all alone there that night.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I turned—and a soldier my eyes fell upon,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He had fought for his country, and one leg was gone!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As he entered a silence fell over the place;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Every eye in the room was turned up to his face.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His head was up high and his eyes seemed aflame</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With a wonderful light, and he laughed as he came.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was young—not yet thirty—yet never he made</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One sign of regret for the price he had paid.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One moment before this young soldier came in</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I had caught bits of speech in the clatter and din</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the fine men about me in life's dress parade</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who were boasting the cash sacrifices they'd made;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I'd thought of my own paltry service with pride,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When I turned and that hero of battle I spied.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I shall never forget the hot flushes of shame</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That rushed to my cheeks as that young fellow came.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was cheerful and smiling and clear-eyed and fine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And out of his face golden light seemed to shine.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I thought as he passed me on crutches:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">"How small</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are the gifts that I make if I don't give my all."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some day in the future in many a place</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More soldiers just like him we'll all have to face.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must sit with them, talk with them, laugh with them, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the signs of their service forever in view</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And this was my thought as I looked at him then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">—Oh, God! make me worthy to stand with such men.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Friendly_Greeting" id="The_Friendly_Greeting"></a><i>The Friendly Greeting</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, we have friends in England, and we have friends in France,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And should we have to travel there through some strange circumstance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Undaunted we should sail away, and gladly should we go,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because awaiting us would be somebody that we know.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Full many a journey here we make where countless strangers roam,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet everywhere our faces turn we find a friend from home.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, we have friends in distant towns, and friends 'neath foreign skies,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet we think of him as lost whene'er a loved one dies.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet he has merely traveled on, as many a friend must do;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within a distant city fair he waits for me and you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when shall come our time to make that journey through the gloam,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To welcome us he will be there, the smiling friend from home.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="We_Need_a_Few_More_Optimists" id="We_Need_a_Few_More_Optimists"></a><i>We Need a Few More Optimists</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We need a few more optimists,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The kind that double up their fists</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And set their jaws, determined-like,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A blow at infamy to strike.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not smiling men, who drift along</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And compromise with every wrong;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not grinning optimists who cry</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That right was never born to die,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But optimists who'll fight to give</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The truth an honest chance to live.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We need a few more optimists</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For places in our fighting lists,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The kind of hopeful men who make</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Real sacrifice for freedom's sake;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The optimist, with purpose strong,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who stands to battle every wrong,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Takes off his coat, and buckles in</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The better joys of earth to win!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The optimist who worries lest</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The vile should overthrow the best.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We need a few more optimists,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The brave of heart that long resists</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The force of Hate and Greed and lust</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And keeps in God and man his trust,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Believing, as he makes his fight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That everything will end all right—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet through the dreary days and nights</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unfalteringly serves and fights,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And helps to gain the joys which he</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Believes are some day sure to be.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We need a few more optimists</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of iron hearts and sturdy wrists;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not optimists who smugly smile</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And preach that in a little while</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The clouds will fade before the sun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But cheerful men who'll bear a gun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hopeful men, of courage stout,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who'll see disaster round about</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet will keep their faith, and fight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And gain the victory for right.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Taking_His_Place" id="Taking_His_Place"></a><i>Taking His Place</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's doing double duty now;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Time's silver gleams upon his brow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And there are lines upon his face</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which only passing years can trace.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet he's turned back many a page</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Long written in the book of age,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For since their boy has marched away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This kindly father, growing gray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is doing for the mother true</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The many things the boy would do.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just as the son came home each night</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With youthful step and eyes alight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So he returns, and with a shout</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of greeting puts her grief to rout.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He says that she shall never miss</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pleasure of that evening kiss,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with strong arms and manner brave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He simulates the hug <i>he</i> gave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And loves her, when the day is done,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Both as a husband and a son.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His laugh has caught a clearer ring;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His step has claimed the old-time swing,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And though <i>his</i> absence hurts him, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The bravest thing that he can do</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is just to try to take <i>his</i> place</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And keep the smiles on mother's face.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So, merrily he jests at night—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tells her with all a boy's delight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of what has happened in the town,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And thus keeps melancholy down.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Her letters breathe of hope and cheer;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No note of gloom she sends from here,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as her husband reads at night</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The many messages she writes,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He chuckles o'er the closing line.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She's failed his secret to divine—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"When you get home," she tells the lad,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"You'll scarcely know your doting dad;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Although his hair is turning gray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He seems more like a boy each day."</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Christmas_1918" id="Christmas_1918"></a><i>Christmas, 1918</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They give their all, this Christmastide, that peace on earth shall reign;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Upon the snows of Flanders now, brave blood has left its stain;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With ribbons red we deck our gifts; theirs bear the red of pain.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They give their lives that joy shall live and little children play;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They pass that all that makes for peace shall not be swept away;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They die that children yet unborn shall have their Christmas Day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come! deck the home with holly wreaths and make this Christmas glow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let Old Glory wave above the bough of mistletoe!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come! keep alive the faith of them who sleep 'neath Flanders snow.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye brave of heart who dwell at home, make merry now a-while;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world has need of Christmas cheer its sorrows to beguile;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And blest is he whose love can light grief's corners with a smile.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring out once more, sweet Christmas bells, your message to the sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Proclaim in golden tones again to every passer-by</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That peace shall rule the lands of earth, and only war shall die.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let love's sweet tenderness relieve war's cruel crimson clutch,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Send forth the Christmas spirit, every troubled heart to touch;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Blest will be all we do for them who do for us so much.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_New_Year" id="The_New_Year"></a><i>The New Year</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come you with dangers to fright us? or hazards</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">to try out our souls?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then may you find us undaunted; determined to</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">get to our goals.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now, white are the pages you bring us to fill</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">with the tales of our deeds,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I pray we shall square at the finish the work</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of our lives with our creeds.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, child of a year, do you wonder what here</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">upon earth you shall find?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">America shows you a people united in purpose</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and mind;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whatever you bring us of danger, whatever you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">hold to affright,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I pray that we never shall lower our standards</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of truth and of right.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You find us a people united, full pledged to the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">work of the world,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To banish the despot and tyrant, our banner in</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">battle's unfurled;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And here to a world that is bleeding and weary</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and heartsick you come,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whatever you've brought us of duty—we'll</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">answer the call of your drum.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We may weep in our grief and our sorrows, we</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">may bend 'neath the might of the blow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But never our courage shall falter, and never</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">we'll run from the foe.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We know not how troubled our pathways shall</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">be nor how sorely beset,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I pray we shall cling to our honor as men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and never our purpose forget.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Our_Duty_to_Our_Flag" id="Our_Duty_to_Our_Flag"></a><i>Our Duty to Our Flag</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Less hate and greed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is what we need</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And more of service true;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More men to love</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The flag above</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And keep it first in view.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Less boast and brag</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the flag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More faith in what it means;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More heads erect,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More self-respect,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Less talk of war machines.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The time to fight</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To keep it bright</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is not along the way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor 'cross the foam,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But here at home</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within ourselves—to-day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis we must love</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That flag above</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With all our might and main;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For from our hands—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not distant lands—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall come dishonor's stain.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If that flag be</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dishonored, we</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have done it—-not the foe;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If it shall fall,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We, first of all,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall have to strike the blow.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Unsettled_Scores" id="The_Unsettled_Scores"></a><i>The Unsettled Scores</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The men are talking peace at 'ome, but 'ere we're talking fight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">There's many a little debt we've got to square;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A sniper sent a bullet through my bunkie's 'ead last night,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And 'is body's lying somewhere h'over there.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, we 'ear a lot of rumors that the war is h'almost through</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But Hi'm thinking that it's only arf begun;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Every soldier in the trenches has a little debt that's due</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And Hi'm telling you it's not a money one.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We 'ave 'eard the bullets whistle and we've 'card the shrapnel sing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And we've listened to a dying comrade's pleas,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we've 'eard about the comfort that the days of peace will bring,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But we've debts that can't be settled h'over seas.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They that 'aven't slept in trenches, 'aven't brothered with the worms,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Aven't 'ad a bunkie slaughtered at their side,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May some day get together and arrange some sort of terms,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But it isn't likely we'll be satisfied.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are debts we want to settle, 'and to 'and, and face to face,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">There are one or two Hi've promised that Hi'd square;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Hi cannot 'old my 'ead up, 'ere or in the other place,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till Hi've settled for my bunkie, lying there.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Warriors" id="Warriors"></a><i>Warriors</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We all are warriors with sin. Crusading knights,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">we come to earth</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With spotless plumes and shining shields to joust</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">with foes and prove our worth.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world is but a battlefield where strong and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">weak men fill the lists,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some make war with humble prayers, and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">some with swords and some with fists.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some for pleasure or for peace forsake their</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">purposes and goals</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And barter for the scarlet joys of ease and pomp,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">their knightly souls.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We're all enlisted soldiers here, in service for</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the term called life</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And each of us in some grim way must bear his</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">portion of the strife.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Temptations everywhere assail. Men do not rise</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">by fearing sin,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor he who keeps within his tent, unharmed,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">unscratched, the crown shall win.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When wrongs are trampling mortals down and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">rank injustice stalks about,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Real manhood to the battle flies, and dies or puts</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the foes to rout.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis not the new and shining blade that marks</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the soldier of the field,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His glory is his broken sword, his pride the</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">scars upon his shield;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The crimson stains that sin has left upon his</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">soul are tongues that speak</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The victory of new found strength by one who</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">yesterday was weak.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And meaningless the spotless plume, the shining</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">blade that goes through life</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And quits this naming battlefield without one</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">evidence of strife.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We all are warriors with sin, we all are knights</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">in life's crusades,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with some form of tyranny, we're sent to</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">earth to measure blades.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The courage of the soul must gleam in conflict</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">with some fearful foe,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No man was ever born to life its luxuries alone</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">to know.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he who brothers with a sin to keep his outward</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">garb unsoiled</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And fears to battle with a wrong, shall find his</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">soul decayed and spoiled.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Easy_Service" id="Easy_Service"></a><i>Easy Service</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When an empty sleeve or a sightless eye</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or a legless form I see,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I breathe my thanks to my God on High</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For His watchful care o'er me.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I say to myself, as the cripple goes</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Half stumbling on his way:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I may brag and boast, but that brother knows</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Why the old flag floats to-day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I think as I sit in my cozy den</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Puffing one of my many pipes</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I've served with all of my fellow men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The glorious Stars and Stripes.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then I see a troop in the faded blue</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And a few in the dusty gray,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I have to laugh at the deeds I do</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the flag that floats to-day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I see men tangled in pointed wire,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The sport of the blazing sun,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mangled and maimed by a leaden fire</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As the tides of battle run,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I fancy I hear their piteous calls</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For merciful death, and then</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cannons cease and the darkness falls,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And those fluttering things are men.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out there in the night they beg for death,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Yet the Reaper spurns their cries,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it seems his jest to leave them breath</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For their pitiful pleas and sighs.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I am here in my cozy room</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In touch with the joys of life,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I am miles away from the fields of doom</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the gory scenes of strife.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I never have vainly called for aid,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor suffered real pangs of thirst,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have marched with life in its best parade</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And never have seen its worst.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the flowers of ease I have ever basked,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And I think as the Flag I see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How much of service from some it's asked,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How little of toil from me.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Fathers_Thoughts" id="A_Fathers_Thoughts"></a><i>A Father's Thoughts</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because I am his father, they</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Expect me to put grief away;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because I am a man, and rough</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sometimes short of speech and gruff,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The women folks at home believe</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His absence doesn't make me grieve;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But how I felt, they little know,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The day I smiled and let him go.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They little know the dreams I had</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Long cherished for my sturdy lad;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They little guess the wrench it meant</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That day when off to war he went;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They little know the tears I checked</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While standing, smiling and erect;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They never heard my smothered sigh</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When it was time to say good-bye.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"What does his father think and say?"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The neighbors ask from day to day.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh, he's a man," they answer then.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"And you know how it is with men.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But little do they ever say,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They do not feel the self-same way;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He seems indifferent and grim</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet he's very proud of him."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Indifferent and grim! Oh, heart,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be brave enough to play the part,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let not the grief in you be shown,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Keep all your loneliness unknown,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To you the women folks must turn</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For comfort when their sorrows burn.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You must not at this time reveal</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pain and anguish that you feel.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, tongue, be silent through the years,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And eyes, keep back always the tears,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let them never see or know</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My hidden weight of grief and woe.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though every golden dream I had</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was centered in my little lad,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Alone my sorrow I must bear.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They must not know how much I care.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though women folks may talk and weep,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A man, unseen, his grief must keep,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hide behind his smile and pride</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The loneliness that dwells inside.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so, from day to day, I go,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Playing the part of man, although</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beneath the rough outside and grim,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I think and dream and pray for him.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Waiter_at_the_Camp" id="The_Waiter_at_the_Camp"></a><i>The Waiter at the Camp</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The officers' friend is the waiter at camp.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the night air 'twas cold and was bitterly damp,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they asked me to dine, which I readily did,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For at dining I've talents I never keep hid.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then a bright-eyed young fellow came in with the meat,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And straightway the troop of us started to eat.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I silently noticed that young fellow wait</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At each officer's side 'til he'd filled up his plate;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I was startled a bit at the very first look</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By the size of the helping each officer took,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I thought as I sat there among them that night</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the army's effect on a man's appetite.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The waiter at last brought the platter to me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And modestly proper I started to be.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A small piece of meat then I gracefully took;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The young fellow stood there and gave me a look.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Better get all you want," he remarked to me then,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I pass this way once, but I don't come again."</span><br /><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I turned in amazement. He nodded his head</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a way that convinced me he meant what he said.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I knew from his manner and smile on his lip</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That the rule in the army is "no second trip."</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I thought as he left me my food to attack,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life gives us one chance, but it never comes back.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Complacent_Slacker" id="The_Complacent_Slacker"></a><i>The Complacent Slacker</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he was just a lad in school,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He used to sit around and fool</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And watch the clock and say:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I can't see that I'll ever need</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This stuff the teacher makes me read,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I'll work no more to-day.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And anyhow it's almost June</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And school days will be over soon."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One time we played a baseball game,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when a chance for stealing came,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On second base he stood,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when we asked him why, he said:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"What was the use, they're far ahead,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">One run would do no good.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The game is almost over now,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We couldn't win it anyhow."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The same old slacker still is he,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With men at war on land and sea,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And our lads plunging in it;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He spreads afar his old excuse.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I'd like to help, but what's the use,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Allied troops will win it.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There's nothing now to make us fret, there,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They'll have it won before we get there."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The worst of slackers is the man</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who will not help whene'er he can,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But plays the idle rover,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And tells to all beset with doubt</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There's naught to be alarmed about,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The storm will soon be over.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let no such dangerous person lead us,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To-day in France they sadly need us.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Christmas_Greeting" id="A_Christmas_Greeting"></a><i>A Christmas Greeting</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here's to you, little mother,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With your boy so far away;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the joy of service smother</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All your grief this Christmas day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the magic of his splendor</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thrill your spirit through and through</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And may all that's fine and tender</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Make a smiling day for you.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May you never know the sadness</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That from day to day you dread;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May you never find but gladness</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the Flag that's overhead;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the good God watch above him</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As he stands to duty stern,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And at last to all who love him</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May he have a safe return.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little mother, take the blessing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of a grateful nation's heart;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the news that is distressing</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Never cause your tears to start;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May there be no fears to haunt you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And no lonely hours and sad;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May your trials never daunt you,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But may every day be glad.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little Mother, could I do it,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This my Christmas gift would be:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That he'd safely battle through it,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This to you I'd guarantee.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I'd pledge to you this morning</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Joys to banish all your cares,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gifts of gold and silver scorning,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I would answer all your prayers.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Ideals" id="Ideals"></a><i>Ideals</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Better than land or gold or trade</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are a high ideal and a purpose true;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Better than all of the wealth we've made</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is the work for others that now we do.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Rome grew rich and she turned to song</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And danced to music and drank her wine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But she sapped the strength of her fibres strong</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And a gilded shroud was her splendor fine.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Rome of old with its wealth and wine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was the handiwork of a sturdy race;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They builded well and they made it fine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And they dreamed of it as their children's place.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They thought the joys they had won to give,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And which seemed so certain and fixed and sure,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the end of time in the world would live</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the Rome they'd fashioned would long endure.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They passed to their children the hoarded gold,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their marble halls and their fertile fields!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But not the spirit of Rome of old,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor the Roman courage that never yields.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They left them the wealth that their hands had won,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But they failed to leave them a purpose true.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They left them thinking life's work all done,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And Rome went down and was lost to view.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must guard ourselves lest we follow Rome.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We must leave our children the finer things.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We must teach them love of the spot called home</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the lasting joy that a purpose brings.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For vain are our Flag and our battles won,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And vain are our lands and our stores of gold,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If our children feel that life's work is done.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We must give them a high ideal to hold.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Rebellion" id="Rebellion"></a><i>Rebellion</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My Crown Prince was fine and fair," a sorrowful</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">father said,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"But he marched away with his regiment and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">they tell me that he's dead!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'We all must go,' he whispered low, 'We must</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">fight for the Fatherland.'</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now the heart of me's torn with the grief I</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">know, and I cannot understand,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For none of the Kaiser's princes lie out there</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">where my soldier sleeps;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here's a land where grief is the common lot, but</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">never the Kaiser weeps.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My Crown Prince was a kindly prince, and his</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">eyes were gentle, too,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And glad were the days of his youth to me when</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">his wonderful smile I knew.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then the Kaiser flattered and spoke him well,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">and he sent him out to die,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But his Crown Prince hasn't felt one hurt and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the heart of me questions why?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He talks of war in his regal way and he boasts</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of his strength to strike,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But his boys all live and he doesn't know what</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">the sting of a bullet's like.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Rebellion gnaws at the soul of me as I think</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">of his Crown Prince gay,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And my Prince cold in the arms of death, and</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">harsh are the things I say.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I join with the grief-torn muttering men who</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">challenge the Kaiser's right</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To build his joys on the graves of ours. We</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">shall rise in our wrath to smite!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And this is the thing we shall ask of him: to</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">give us the reason why</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our boys must fall on his battlefields, but never</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">his boys must die?"</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Drafted" id="Drafted"></a><i>Drafted</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The biggest moment in our lives was that when first he cried,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From that day unto this, for him, we've struggled side by side.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We can recount his daily deeds, and backwards we can look,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And proudly live again the time when first a step he took.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I see him trudging off to school, his mother at his side,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when she left him there alone she hurried home and cried.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then the sturdy chap of eight that was, I proudly see,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who packed a little grip and took a fishing trip with me.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Among the lists of boys to go his name has now appeared;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To us has come the sacrifice that mothers all have feared;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And though we dread the parting hour when he shall march away,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We love him and the Flag too much to ask of him to stay.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His baby ways shall march with him, and every joy we've had,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Somewhere in France some day shall be a little brown-eyed lad;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A toddler and a child at school, the chum that once I knew</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall wear our country's uniform, for they've been drafted, too.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Reflection" id="Reflection"></a><i>Reflection</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You have given me riches and ease,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You have given me joys through the years,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have sat in the shade of your trees,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the song of your birds in my ears.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have drunk of your bountiful wine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And done as I've chosen to do,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But, oh wonderful country of mine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'How little have I done for you!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You have given me safe harbor from harm,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Untroubled I've slept through the nights</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And have waked to the new morning's charm</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And claimed as my own its delights.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have taken the finest of fine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From your orchards and fields where it grew,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But, oh wonderful country of mine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How little I've given to you!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You have given me a home and a place</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where in safety my babies may play;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Health blooms on each bright dimpled face</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And laughter is theirs every day.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You have guarded from danger the shrine</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where I worship when toiling is through,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But, oh wonderful country of mine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How little have I done for you!</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have taken your gifts without thought,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I have reveled in joys that you gave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I see now with blood had been bought,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The blood of your earlier braves.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have lived without making one sign</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That the source of my riches I knew,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now, oh wonderful country of mine,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I'm here to do something for you!</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="A_Wish" id="A_Wish"></a><i>A Wish</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant my children may</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not think in terms of gold</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When I have passed away</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And my poor form is cold.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When I no more shall be,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If of me they would brag,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd have them speak of me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As one who loved the Flag.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God grant my children may</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not speak of me as one</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who trod a selfish way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When I am dead and gone.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When they recall my name</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I'd have them tell that I</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Held dear my Country's fame</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And kept her standards high.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not for the things I gave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Would I be counted kind;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When I am in my grave,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If they my worth would find,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd have them read it there</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In red and white and blue</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And stars of radiance rare!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And say that I was true.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Living" id="Living"></a><i>Living</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If through the years we're not to do</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Much finer deeds than we have done;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we must merely wander through</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Time's garden, idling in the sun;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If there is nothing big ahead,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Why do we fear to join the dead?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unless to-morrow means that we</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shall do some needed service here;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That tasks are waiting you and me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That will be lost, save we appear;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then why this dreadful thought of sorrow</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That we may never see to-morrow?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If all our finest deeds are done,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And all our splendor's in the past;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If there's no battle to be won,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">What matter if to-day's our last?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is life so sweet that we would live</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though nothing back to life we give?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not to have lived through seventy years</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is greatness. Fitter to be sung</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In poet's praises and in cheers</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is he who dies in action, young;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who ventures all for one great deed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And gives his life to serve life's need.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Lifes_Slacker" id="Lifes_Slacker"></a><i>Life's Slacker</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The saddest sort of death to die</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Would be to quit the game called life</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And know, beneath the gentle sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You'd lived a slacker in the strife.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That nothing men on earth would find</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To mark the spot that you had filled;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That you must go and leave behind</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No patch of soil your hands had tilled.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I know no greater shame than this:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To feel that yours were empty years;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That after death no man would miss</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Your presence in this vale of tears;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That you had breathed the fragrant air</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And sat by kindly fires that burn,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in earth's riches had a share</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But gave no labor in return.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet some men die this way, nor care:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They enter and they leave life's door</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And at the end, their record's bare—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The world's no better than before.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A few false tears are shed, and then,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In busy service, they're forgot.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We have no time to mourn for men</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who lived on earth but served it not.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A man in perfect peace to die</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Must leave some mark of toil behind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some building towering to the sky,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Some symbol that his heart was kind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some roadway where strange feet may tread</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That out of gratitude he made;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He cannot bravely look ahead</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Unless his debt to life is paid.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Proof_of_Worth" id="The_Proof_of_Worth"></a><i>The Proof of Worth</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though victory's proof of the skill you possess,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Defeat is the proof of your grit;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A weakling can smile in his days of success,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But at trouble's first sign he will quit.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So the test of the heart and the test of your pluck</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Isn't skies that are sunny and fair,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But how do you stand to the blow that is struck</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And how do you battle despair?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A fool can seem wise when the pathway is clear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And it's easy to see the way out,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the test of man's judgment is something to fear,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And what does he do when in doubt?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the proof of his faith is the courage he shows</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When sorrows lie deep in his breast;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's the way that he suffers the griefs that he knows</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That brings out his worst or his best.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The test of a man is how much he will bear</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For a cause which he knows to be right,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How long will he stand in the depths of despair,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How much will he suffer and fight?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are many to serve when the victory's near</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And few are the hurts to be borne,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But it calls for a leader of courage to cheer</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The men in a battle forlorn.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's the way you hold out against odds that are great</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That proves what your courage is worth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's the way that you stand to the bruises of fate</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That shows up your stature and girth.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And victory's nothing but proof of your skill,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Veneered with a glory that's thin,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unless it is proof of unfaltering will,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And unless you have suffered to win.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Follow_a_Famous_Father" id="Follow_a_Famous_Father"></a><i>Follow a Famous Father</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I follow a famous father,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His honor is mine to wear;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He gave me a name that was free from shame,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A name he was proud to bear.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He lived in the morning sunlight,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And marched in the ranks of right.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was always true to the best he knew</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the shield that he wore was bright.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I follow a famous father,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And never a day goes by</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I feel that he looks down to me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To carry his standard high.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He stood to the sternest trials</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As only a brave man can;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though the way be long, I must never wrong</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The name of so good a man.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I follow a famous father,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not known to the printed page,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor written down in the world's renown</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As a prince of his little age.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But never a stain attached to him</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And never he stooped to shame;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was bold and brave and to me he gave</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The pride of an honest name.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I follow a famous father,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And him I must keep in mind;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though his form is gone, I must carry on</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The name that he left behind.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was mine on the day he gave it,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It shone as a monarch's crown,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as fair to see as it came to me</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It must be when I pass it down.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="The_Important_Thing" id="The_Important_Thing"></a><i>The Important Thing</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was playing in the garden when we called him in for tea,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he didn't seem to hear us, so I went out there to see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What the little rogue was up to, and I stooped and asked him why,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he heard his mother calling, he had made her no reply.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I am playing war," he told me, "and I'm up against defeat,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And until I stop the Germans I can't take the time to eat."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Isn't supper so important that you'll quit your round of play?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't you want to eat the shortcake mother made for you to-day?"</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then I asked him, but he answered as he shook his little head:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I don't dare to stop for shortcake, if I do they'll kill me dead!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When I drive them from their trenches, then to supper I'll come in,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I mustn't stop a minute, 'cause this war I've got to win."</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I left him in his battle, left him there to end his play,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For he'd taught to me a lesson that is needed much to-day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not the lure of cake could turn him from the work he had to do;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There was nothing so important as to see his struggle through.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I wondered all that evening, as he slumbered in his bed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we'd risen to the meaning of the work that lies ahead?</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are we roused to the importance of the danger in our way?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are we thinking still of pleasures as we thought but yesterday?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are our comforts and our riches in our minds still uppermost?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must we wait, to see our danger, till the foe is on our coast?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, there's nothing so important, nothing now that's worth a pin</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Save the war that we are fighting. It's a war we've got to win.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Selfishness" id="Selfishness"></a><i>Selfishness</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Search history, my boy, and see</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">What petty selfishness has done.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Find if you can one victory</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That little minds have ever won.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There is no record there to read</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of men who fought for self alone,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No instance of a single deed</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">splendor they may proudly own.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through all life's story you will find</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The miser—with his hoarded gold—</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A hermit, dreary and unkind,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An outcast from the human fold.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Men hold him up to view with scorn,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A creature by his wealth enslaved,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A spirit craven and forlorn,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Doomed by the money he has saved.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No man was ever truly great</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who sought to serve himself alone,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who put himself above the state,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Above the friends about him thrown.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No man was ever truly glad</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who risked his joy on hoarded pelf,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And gave of nothing that he had</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through fear of needing it himself.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For selfishness is wintry cold,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bitter are its joys at last,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The very charms it tries to hold,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With woes are quickly overcast.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And only he shall gladly live,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bravely die when God shall call,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who gathers but that he may give,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And with his fellows shares his all.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Constant_Beauty" id="Constant_Beauty"></a><i>Constant Beauty</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's good to have the trees again, the singing of the breeze again,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It's good to see the lilacs bloom as lovely as of old.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's good that we can feel again, the touch of beauties real again,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For hearts and minds, of sorrow now, have all that they can hold.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The roses haven't changed a bit, nor have the peonies stranged a bit,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They bud and bloom the way they did before the war began.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world is upside down to-day, there's much to make us frown to-day</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And gloom and sadness everywhere beset the path of man.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But now the lilacs bloom again and give us their perfume again</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And now the roses smile at us and nod along the way;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it is good to see again the blossoms on each tree again</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And feel that nature hasn't changed the way we have to-day.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, we have changed from what we were, we're not the carefree lot we were,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our hearts are filled with sorrow now and grave concern and pain,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But it is good to see once more the budding lilac tree once more,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And find the constant roses here to comfort us again.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="When_the_Drums_Shall_Cease_to_Beat" id="When_the_Drums_Shall_Cease_to_Beat"></a><i>When the Drums Shall Cease to Beat</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When will the laughter ring again in the way that it used to do?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not till the soldiers come home again, not till the war is through.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When will the holly gleam again and the Christmas candles burn?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not till the swords are sheathed once more and the brave of our land return.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When will happy hearts meet again in the lights of the Christmas tree?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not till the cannons cease their roar and the sailors come from sea.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When shall we sing as we used to do and dance in the old-time way?</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not till the soldiers come home again and the bugles cease to play.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, dull is the red of the holly now and faintly the candles burn;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we long for the smile of the missing face and the absent one's return.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We long for the laughter we used to know and the love that made giving sweet,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But we must wait for the joys of old till the drums shall cease to beat.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall laugh once more as we used to do, and dance in the old-time way,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For this is the pledge they have made to us who serve in the war to-day;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the joys of home that we treasure so are the joys that their lives defend,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they shall give us our Christmas time as soon as the war shall end.</span><br />
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><a name="Prophecy" id="Prophecy"></a><i>Prophecy</i></h2><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall thank our God for graces</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That we've never known before;</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall look on manlier faces</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When our troubled days are o'er.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall rise a better nation</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From the battle's grief and grime,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And shall win our soul's salvation</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In this bitter trial time.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the old Flag waving o'er us</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the dancing morning sun</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will be daily singing for us</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of a splendor new begun.</span><br /><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the rifles cease to rattle</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the cannon cease to roar,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When is passed the smoke of battle</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the death lists are no more,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With a yet undreamed of beauty</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As a people we shall rise,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And a love of right and duty</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shall be gleaming in our eyes.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As a country, tried by sorrow,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a heritage of worth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall stand in that to-morrow</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the leaders of the earth.</span><br />
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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