Fifes and Drums/Fall In!

by Amelia Josephine Burr

FALL IN!

We thought that reason had mastered men,
    That peace of the world was lord,
That never the roll of the drum again
    Should quicken the thirsty sword—
But our bubble broke with a sudden blow,
    And we heard like the trumpet's din
That levelled the walls of Jericho
    The old stern cry—"Fall in!"

We were numb, amazed, we were sick and dazed
    With a horror past belief.
Silent we stood while Belgium blazed
    In her martyr's glory of grief.
Then it came so near that we needs must hear,
    For the cry of our murdered kin
Drove in our heart like a searching spear
    The call of the hour—"Fall in!"

Not in the flush of a barren thrill
    Do we come to our deed at last.
We have weighed our will, we must do our will,
    For the doubting-time is past.
We have faced our souls in the sleepless night,
    And what shall we fear but sin?
Not for love of the fight, but for love of the right,
    In the name of our God—"Fall in!"

Amelia Josephine Burr.