Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WAIT FOR THE WAGON, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WAIT FOR THE WAGON, by                    
First Line: A hundred thousand northmen
Last Line: "if red-tape so wills it, / wait till judgment-day"
Subject(s): American Civil War;u.s. - History


A HUNDRED thousand Northmen,
In glittering war array,
Shout, "Onward now to Richmond!
We'll brook no more delay;
Why give the traitors time and means
To fortify the way
With stolen guns, in ambuscades?
Oh! answer us, we pray."
Chorus of Chieftains --
You must wait for the wagons,
The real army wagons,
The fat contract wagons,
Bought in the red-tape way.

Now, if for army wagons,
Not for compromise you wait,
Just ask them of the farmers
Of any Union state;
And if you need ten thousand,
Sound, sound, though second-hand,
You'll find upon the instant
A supply for your demand.
Chorus --
No! wait for the wagons,
The new army wagons,
The fat contract wagons,
Till the fifteenth of July.

No swindling fat contractors
Shall block the people's way,
Nor rebel compromisers --
'T is treason's reckoning day.
Then shout again our war-cry,
To Richmond onward move!
We now can crush the traitors,
And that we mean to prove!
Chorus --
No! wait for the wagons,
The fat contract wagons;
If red-tape so wills it,
Wait till the Judgment-day.





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