Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BATTLE-CRIES, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Yes, jim hez gone-ye didn't know? Last Line: Sick of his bloody spree. Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael Subject(s): Blood; Fights; Social Problems | ||||||||
YES, Jim hez goneye didn't know? He's fightin' at the front. It's him as bears 'his country's hopes', An' me as bears the brunt. W'en war bruk out Jim 'lowed he'd go He allus loved a scrap Ye see, the home warn't jest the place Fer sech a lively chap. O' course, the work seems ruther hard; The kids is ruther small It ain't that I am sore at Jim, I envy himthat's all. He doesn't know what he's about An' cares still less, does Jim... With all his loose an' roarin' ways I wisht that I was him. It makes him glad an' drunken-like That music an' the smoke; An' w'en they shout, the whole thing seems A picnic an' a joke. Oh, yellin' puts a heart in ye, An' stren'th into yer blows I wisht that I could hears those cheers Washin' the neighbors clo'es... It's funny how some things work out Life is so strange, Lord love us Here am I, workin' night an' day To keep a roof above us; An' Jim is somewhere in the south, An' Jim ain't really bad, A-runnin' round an' raisin' Cain, An' stabbin' some kid's dad. But that's w'at men are made foreh? W'at else is there for me But workin' on till Jim comes home, Sick of his bloody spree. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE COLORED BIRDS by CHARLES BUKOWSKI GENERATIONS by LUCILLE CLIFTON THE OLD WHITE MAN by WANDA COLEMAN THE BALLAD OF BALLYMOTE by TESS GALLAGHER THE LITTLE FISH DEVOURS THE BIG FISH by ALLEN GINSBERG OCTOBER, 1973 by CAROLYN KIZER A LETTER ON THE USE OF MACHINE GUNS AT WEDDINGS by KENNETH PATCHEN A LETTER TO A POLICEMAN IN KANSAS CITY by KENNETH PATCHEN AN EXPLANATION OF AMERICA by ROBERT PINSKY A BIRTHDAY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER A VOICE FROM THE SWEAT-SHOPS (A HYMN WITH RESPONSES) by LOUIS UNTERMEYER |
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