Leaves of Grass (1882)/Drum-Taps/An Army Corps on the March

by Walt Whitman

AN ARMY CORPS ON THE MARCH.

With its cloud of skirmishers in advance,
With now the sound of a single shot snapping like a whip, and now an irregular volley,
The swarming ranks press on and on, the dense brigades press on,
Glittering dimly, toiling under the sun—the dust-cover'd men,
In columns rise and fall to the undulations of the ground,
With artillery interspersed—the wheels rumble, the horses sweat,
As the army corps advances.