Patriotic pieces from the Great War. Edna D. Jones
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Название: Patriotic pieces from the Great War
Автор: Edna D. Jones
Издательство: Bookwire
Жанр: Языкознание
isbn: 4064066441913
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Where I can do my part, all unafraid—
A simple soldier in Thy great crusade.
I pray thee, Lord, let others take command;
Enough for me, a rifle in my hand,
Thy blood-red banner ever leading me
Where I can fight for liberty and Thee.
Give others, God, the glory; mine the right
To stand beside my comrades in the fight,
To die, if need be, in some foreign land—
Absolved and solaced by a soldier's hand.
O Lord, my God, pray barken to my prayer
And keep me ever humble, keep me where
The fight is thickest, where, 'midst steel and flame,
Thy sons give battle, calling on Thy name.
—Robert Garland
SOLDIERS OF FREEDOM
SOLDIERS OF FREEDOM
By permission of the author
They veiled their souls with laughter
And many a mocking pose,
These lads who follow after
Wherever Freedom goes;
These lads we used to censure
For levity and ease
On Freedom's high adventure
Go shining overseas.
Our springing tears adore them
These boys at school and play,
Fair-fortuned years before them,
Alas! but yesterday.
Divine with sudden splendor
—Oh how our eyes were blind!—
In careless self-surrender
They battle for mankind.
Soldiers of Freedom! Gleaming
And golden they depart,
Transfigured by the dreaming
Of boyhood's hidden heart.
Her lovers they confess them
And, rushing on her foes,
Toss her their youth—God bless them!—
As lightly as a rose.
—Katharine Lee Bates
MY SAILOR BOY
MY SAILOR BOY
Used by permission of the author
I did not ask for strength to let him go
(Although he seemed so young—still but a child);
I did not pray for courage—God, you know—
When down the silver street, blue clad, they filed.
More than my life went with them through the snow,
And yet, dear God—you saw—I smiled—I smiled.
But oh! how shall I pass each day his door
Where still the shadow of his presence lingers?
How touch the things he loved to touch,
Still warm and vibrant from his dear brown fingers?
How tread the silent floors his glad feet trod,
Day after day—unless you help me—God!
—Viola Brothers Shore
THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS
THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS
The Quartermaster Corps
Is a non-combatin' crowd,
An' it isn't much excitin'
Fer th' man who likes it loud;
But it's got its own hard work t' do,
An' they'd all be on th' floor
If it wasn't for the non-combatin'
Quartermaster Corps.
The Quartermaster Corps
Sheds no glory or renown,
But it's got the grub that keeps you
Comin' back when you are down;
An' the Infantree an' Cavalree
Would all be on the floor
If it wasn't fer the non-combatin'
Quartermaster Corps.
The Quartermaster Corps
Is ol' Jimmy-on-the-Spot
When it comes to gettin' chow
To th' line where things are hot;
Why, the boys up in the trenches
Would all be on the floor
If it wasn't fer the non-combatin'
Quartermaster Corps.
The Quartermaster Corps