Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MAN WHO DOES THE CHEERING, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MAN WHO DOES THE CHEERING, by                    
First Line: This war with spain reminds me o' the spring o' '61
Last Line: Come / back
Subject(s): American Civil War;history;homecoming;u.s. - History; Historians


THIS war with Spain reminds me o' the Spring o' '61,
About the time or jist afore the Civil War begun;
A certain class o' heroes ain't remembered in this age,
Yit their names in golden letters should be writ on history's page,
Their voices urged on others to save this ol' country's fall;
I admit they never listened when they heerd Abe Lincoln call;
They never heerd a eagle scream er heerd a rifle crack,
But you bet they done the cheerin'
When
the
Troops
Come
Back.

O' course it's glorious to fight when freedom is at stake,
I'low a feller likes to show that he hez helped to make
Another star in freedom's sky — the star o' Cuby — free!
But still another feelin' creeps along o' that when he
Gits to thinkin' o' the home he left en' seein' it at night
Dancin' slowlike up aroun' him in a misty maze o' light,
En' a-ketchin' fleetin' glimpses of a crowd along the track
En' the man who does the cheerin'
When
the
Troops
Come
Back.

O' course, a soldier hez got feelin's, en his heart begins to beat
Faster, ez ol' Reckollection leads him down some shady street
Where he knows a gal's a-waitin' underneath a creepin' vine,
Where the sun is kinder cautious 'bout combatin' with the shine
In her eyes — en' jist another thing that nuther you er I
Could look at with easy feelin' is a piece of pumpkin pie
That hez made our mothers famous — but down there along the track
Is the man who does the cheerin'
When
the
Troops
Come
Back.

There's times o' course when ev'ry soldier gits to thinkin' left en' right,
He kin hear the ol' bells ringin' in the middle o' the night;
He kin hear the whistles blowin', see the G. A. R. march through
Streets with houses fairly kivered with the ol' red, white, and blue,
En' kin hear the band a-playin' in a dreamy jubilee,
En' he hears a fife a-pipin' "From Atlanty to the Sea,"
Echoin' down to the depot, where the man along the track
Is gettin' ready for the cheerin'
When
the
Troops
Come
Back.

It's jist the same in war times ez in common ev'ry day,
When a feller keeps a-strugglin' en' a-peggin' on his way,
He likes to hev somebody come and grab him by the hand
En' say: "Ol' boy, you'll git there yit; you've got the grit en' sand."
It does him good, en' I 'low that it does a soldier, too;
So even if the feller at the track don't wear the blue,
He's helped save bleedin' Cuby from the tyrants en their rack
By leadin' in the cheerin'
When
the
Troops
Come
Back.





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