The Earth Turns South/I See America Marching
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I SEE AMERICA MARCHING
I.
I see America marching:
Over the perilous waves her khakied thousands flood;
Over the bloodied Atlantic the steady drive of her fleets,
And through the swirling air the whirr of her clouds of bird-men.
I see America marching:
Over the perilous waves her khakied thousands flood;
Over the bloodied Atlantic the steady drive of her fleets,
And through the swirling air the whirr of her clouds of bird-men.
II.
I see America marching:
Wheat from the stubborn soil of the North, cotton snow from the South,
Iron and steel from the Lakes and the glinting miles of mountains,
Sugar and meat, timber and coal, powder and steel-wrought rails,
The army at home, with lengthening arm, smashing unending blows.
I see America marching:
Wheat from the stubborn soil of the North, cotton snow from the South,
Iron and steel from the Lakes and the glinting miles of mountains,
Sugar and meat, timber and coal, powder and steel-wrought rails,
The army at home, with lengthening arm, smashing unending blows.
III.
I see America marching:
This is no war of armies, nor even of nations.
Behold—a continent—America!—hurls itself over the seaway
To crush the hateful tyranny of the squat Teutonic land.
For following the khakied line and the driving fleets
Katahdin lifts an awakened head, and summons his brothers to follow—
An army of mountains marching to battle!
Mount Washington comes, Mount Mitchell wakes, Bald Head and Round Top answer the call,
Pike's Peak and Massive Mountain trumpet over the plain,
Rainier and Whitney, Shasta and Hood advance to the onslaught,
And Mount McKinley leads frozen Alaska to the charge.
I see America marching:
This is no war of armies, nor even of nations.
Behold—a continent—America!—hurls itself over the seaway
To crush the hateful tyranny of the squat Teutonic land.
For following the khakied line and the driving fleets
Katahdin lifts an awakened head, and summons his brothers to follow—
An army of mountains marching to battle!
Mount Washington comes, Mount Mitchell wakes, Bald Head and Round Top answer the call,
Pike's Peak and Massive Mountain trumpet over the plain,
Rainier and Whitney, Shasta and Hood advance to the onslaught,
And Mount McKinley leads frozen Alaska to the charge.
How the squat Hunnish summits cower!
Zugspitze and Schneekoppe flatten, Altvater and Arber flee,
Brocken and Vogelsberg scream horribly as the Adirondacks and Rockies surge upon them.
The rivers wind upon the foe—
The mighty Father of Waters drowns the puny Rhine,
Yukon and Colorado, Rio Grande and the Hudson,
flood over the fleeing Elbe and Danube.
The Great Lakes rage over the lowlands,
And the mighty land, three millions of mighty miles,
Plunges upon the desperate Deutschland's two hundred thousand,
Until it yields to the continent singing of liberty,
And the people's rule buds and blossoms over the blood-drenched earth.
Zugspitze and Schneekoppe flatten, Altvater and Arber flee,
Brocken and Vogelsberg scream horribly as the Adirondacks and Rockies surge upon them.
The rivers wind upon the foe—
The mighty Father of Waters drowns the puny Rhine,
Yukon and Colorado, Rio Grande and the Hudson,
flood over the fleeing Elbe and Danube.
The Great Lakes rage over the lowlands,
And the mighty land, three millions of mighty miles,
Plunges upon the desperate Deutschland's two hundred thousand,
Until it yields to the continent singing of liberty,
And the people's rule buds and blossoms over the blood-drenched earth.
IV.
I see America marching:
Mountain and river, lake and prairie, marching under the white stars of blue heaven,
Through a continent's red-barred agony,
To win the white goal, the peace of the peoples' vision!
I see America marching:
Mountain and river, lake and prairie, marching under the white stars of blue heaven,
Through a continent's red-barred agony,
To win the white goal, the peace of the peoples' vision!