Fifes and Drums

by The Vigilantes

FIFES

AND

DRUMS

Poems
of America at War

The VIGILANTES Books

FIFES AND DRUMS

A COLLECTION OF POEMS

OF AMERICA AT WAR

NEW YORK

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1917,

BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FOREWORD

These poems, written under the immediate stress of great events by those who have banded themselves together under the name of The Vigilantes, furnish a striking record of the emotional reactions of the American people during the fortnight preceding and the six weeks following the declaration of war. They are presented to the public in the belief that men and women in every corner of the Union will find reflected in them some of the love and aspiration they themselves are experiencing for their re-discovered country.

CONTENTS

		PAGE
America Unafraid	Charles Hanson Towne	13
The Ultimate Argument	Arthur Guiterman	16
The Song	Marion Couthouy Smith	18
Peace with a Sword	Abbie Farwell Brown	22
The Pacifist's Lament	Don Marquis	24
At Any Price	Lee Wilson Dodd	25
The Answer	Marion Couthouy Smith	29
In Time of Danger	Clinton Scollard	31
To America	Lee Wilson Dodd	33
Ode to Tonsilitis	Wallace Irwin	35
April 2nd	Theodosia Garrison	37
The Flag Goes Up	Amelia Josephine Burr	38
Fall In!	Amelia Josephine Burr	40
Black Flag!	Edith M. Thomas	42
A Song of Democracy	Lee Wilson Dodd	44
Our Aim	Louis How	47
The Binding of the Beast	George Sterling	49
The Flag	George E. Woodberry	53
To All Americans	Amelia Josephine Burr	55
War Song of America	Grantland Rice	57
Processional	Cale Young Rice	59
Omniscient Mr. Fall	Lee Wilson Dodd	61
The Stars and Stripes	Theodosia Garrison	64
The German-American	Katherine Lee Bates	66
Our Bargain	Amelia Josephine Burr	68
Blow, O Ye Bugles	Clinton Scollard	70
America in Arms	Percy MacKaye	71
To the Allies	Laura E. Richards	74
Of Kings	Clinton Scollard	76
The Kaiser	Florence Earle Coates	77
The Return of the Exiles	George E. Woodberry	79
Messengers	Florence Mary Bennett	80
Shoulder to Shoulder	Clinton Scollard	82
The Roundabout Committee and the Circumlocution Board	Wallace Irwin	84
America	Lee Wilson Dodd	88
America, To Arms!	Blanche Shoemaker Wagstaff	91
A Lesson in Manners	Theodosia Garrison	92
Come to the Colors	Laura E. Richards	94
Our Flag in France	Marion Couthouy Smith	96
The American Flag	Theodosia Garrison	98
The Young Blood Speaks	Mary Farley Sanborn	100
Marching with Papa Joffre	Percy MacKaye	102
It Is Better	Louis How	105
Enlisted	Willard Wattles	107
Currency	M. E. Buhler	110
To Our Women	Amelia Josephine Burr	111
To the Mothers	Marion Couthouy Smith	113
The Girls They Left Behind Them	Theodosia Garrison	115
A French Captain	Amelia Josephine Burr	117
The Recruit	Reginald Wright Kauffman	119
Prayer During Battle	Hermann Hagedorn	121
They Also Serve	Faith Baldwin	122
His Job	Amelia Josephine Burr	124
Concerning Planting	John Curtis Underwood	126
Spades Are Trumps!	John Kemble	130
The War of Bread	Edith M. Thomas	132
Columbia's Shop	Theodosia Garrison	134
The Childless	Amelia Josephine Burr	136
The Test	Amelia Josephine Burr	138
A Song of Confidence	Theodosia Garrison	139
"Ride, Vigilantes!"	Edith M. Thomas	141

Surely the time for making songs has come
⁠Now that the Spring is in the air again.
⁠Trees blossom though men bleed; and after rain
The robins hop; and soon the bees will hum.

Long was the winter, long our lips were dumb.
⁠Long under snow our loyal dreams have lain.
Surely the time for making songs has come
⁠Now that the Spring is in the air again.

The Spring!—with bugles and a rumbling drum!
⁠Oh, builders of high music out of pain,
⁠Now is the hour with singing to make vain
The boast of kings in Pandemonium!

Surely the time for making songs has come!

H. H.