He was just a kid And cried when they drafted him -- To send him across: He who had never been further away From home in all his life Than the county seat Twenty miles away. Blind with tears, he stumbled aboard The train that took him away While the Widow Price watched... Killed in action! Bud, who couldn't bear to see a chicken's neck wrung! Stony-eyed, she watched the other women With their letters from the War Department And their Gold Stars. Not for her. They dragged him to his death, she said, And he jest a young'un not knowing what it was all about, And he died jest like a rat in a trap, Jest as your own boys died. But now that they've dun it They ain't a-goin' to come to Me And try to make it right By giving @3me@1 any Gold Star And think it'll make @3me@1 feel proud ... | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CANDLE by KATHERINE MANSFIELD CORTEGE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON CHILDE ROLAND TO THE DARK TOWER CAME' by ROBERT BROWNING A FOREST HYMN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT EASTER by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES A THANKSGIVING TO GOD [FOR HIS HOUSE] by ROBERT HERRICK |