Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MEN BEHIND THE GUNS, by JOHN JEROME ROONEY



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MEN BEHIND THE GUNS, by                    
First Line: A cheer and salute for the admiral, and here's to the captain bold
Last Line: Men behind the guns!
Subject(s): Navy - United States; Patriotism; Spanish-american War (1898); American Navy


A CHEER and salute for the Admiral, and here's
to the Captain bold,
And never forget the Commodore's debt when the
deeds of might are told!
They stand to the deck through the battle's wreck
when the great shells roar and screech --
And never they fear when the foe is near to prac-
tice what they preach:
But off with your hat and three times three for
Columbia's true-blue sons,
The men below who batter the foe -- the men be-
hind the guns!

Oh, light and merry of heart are they when they
swing into port once more,
When, with more than enough of the "green-
backed stuff," they start for their leave-o'-
shore;
And you'd think, perhaps, that the blue-bloused
chaps who loll along the street

Are a tender bit, with salt on it, for some fierce
"mustache" to eat --
Some warrior bold, with straps of gold, who
dazzles and fairly stuns
The modest worth of the sailor boys -- the lads
who serve the guns.

But say not a word till the shot is heard that
tells the fight is on,
Till the long, deep roar grows more and more
from the ships of "Yank" and "Don,"
Till over the deep the tempests sweep of fire and
bursting shell,
And the very air is a mad Despair in the throes
of a living hell;
Then down, deep down, in the mighty ship, unseen
by the midday suns,
You'll find the chaps who are giving the raps --
the men behind the guns!

Oh, well they know how the cyclones blow that
they loose from their cloud of death,
And they know is heard the thunder-word their
fierce ten-incher saith!
The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and
shake with the great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead
and reaches for his spoil --
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his
prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the
men behind the guns!




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net