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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ARMISTICE DAY, 1928 by ERNEST HARTSOCK

First Line: COME, LET US WAVE A FLAG AND JUMP AND YELL
Last Line: THE TERRIBLE CRY OF BROTHERS, CRUCIFIED!)
Subject(s): HOLIDAYS; VETERANS; VETERANS DAY; WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;
Come, let us wave a flag and jump and yell:
A student army swaggers down the street.
(@3O in the bowels of abysmal hell
The silent thunder of ten thousand feet!@1)

Come, let the martial snarls of gloating bands
Inflame our patriotic wrath and glee!
(@3O in the languid mire of ruined lands
The aching echo of dead minstrelsy!@1)

Come, let the dragons of the sky compete,
And guttural-bellowing dreadnoughts mimic battle.
(@3O on the tides of blood the phantom fleet,
And in the air Death's quiet iron rattle!@1)

Come, senator and silken profiteer,
To scream the victory of those who died.
(@3O in the dark like trumpets, deep and clear
The terrible cry of brothers, crucified!@1)



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