Page:Fifes and Drums, Poems of America at War, Vigilantes, 1917.djvu/26

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
20
FIFES AND DRUMS


Where the stars above the trenches meet the soldier's dying glance—
            Its call is sounding on.

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel;
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
            Since God is marching on."

My country—oh, my country! Clear-sighted then and strong,
A shield for the defenceless and a flame against the wrong,
True to the ringing echoes of that mighty marching song
            That still is sounding on—