Page:Poems of Patriotism (1942).djvu/63

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The Discovery of a Soul

The proof of a man is the danger test,
That shows him up at his worst or best.

He didn’t seem to care for work, he wasn’t much at school.
His speech was slow and commonplace—you wouldn’t call him fool,
And yet until the war broke out you’d calmly pass him by,
For nothing in his makeup or his way would catch your eye.
He seemed indifferent to the world, the kind that doesn’t care—
That’s satisfied with just enough to eat and drink and wear;
That doesn’t laugh when others do or cry when others weep,
But seems to walk the wakeful world half dormant and asleep;
Then came the war, the soldiers marched and drums began to roll,
And suddenly we realized his body held a soul.

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