[In honor of the sixty American soldiers who during the World War allowed themselves to be inoculated with trench fever, that the disease might be studied and conquered.] Not in the glory of battles, Not in the cannonades' crash, Not where the musketry rattles, Not where the signals flash, But to the sturdily stoic Hospital waiting and woe, Thither, with hearts heroic, Stoutly our soldiers go. There they will charge a foeman Armed with a desperate might; Persian nor Greek nor Roman Had such a foe to fight. There in the grim and glooming Grip of a living grave, There in the heat consuming, They will be cheerily brave. "Forward against the fever!" Thus is the onset made; Crafty and cruel deceiver Lies he in ambuscade. There in the horrible shadows, There where the spectres are, Creeping through twilight meadows, There they must wage their war. Hail to the new crusaders, Genuine knights are these, Facing the fiercest invaders, Conquering foul disease. And, when the final story Honors the hero's name, Theirs be a grateful glory, Theirs be a lasting fame! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TANGENTIAL by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE EVENING STAR by THOMAS CAMPBELL THE FUNERAL by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE CHILDREN'S HOUR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW IN A BYE-CANAL by HERMAN MELVILLE SONNETS TO LAURA IN LIFE: 109 by PETRARCH SONNET: 98 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE POEM FOR PICTURE: TO A DRAWING OF A HORSE BY GEORGIO DI CHIRICO by FRANK ANKENBRAND JR. |