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FIFES AND DRUMS

Table of Contents

AMERICA UNAFRAID

Table of Contents

I

America will wake

To the stern task before her. She will break

The bonds of Sloth and dull Indifference,

And, with the soul of Lincoln in her eyes,

Dare to be great and wise;

Dare to be valiant with the valor still

That echoes from the crest of Bunker Hill;

The valor that gave Grant and Lee their fame

After the battle-flame;

The valor that has kept our country whole

While the clean years unroll;

​The valor that has giv'n us all body, and heart, and soul!

II

America will be

As one in her old love of Liberty.

She will remember naught of party and creed

In her great hour of need;

But one in spirit, one in high accord,

Her people will await the final word

That bids them strike for Justice. Her keen sword

Will never be unsheathed, save in the name of Christ, our Lord!

III

There is a fear

Running through our broad country, far and near;

A rumor that foul traitors at our gate

Whisper, and plan, and wait;

​ A rumor that beneath us crawls the hostile worm of hate. …

It may be so! But I believe that now

Each man can disavow

Old enmities, and, loyal to the end,

Count it his privilege to be his country's friend;

Count it his right to suffer for the land

That hailed him, and stretched forth a welcoming

hand When he, heart-broken, from an alien shore,

Came as a stranger to our open door.

IV

America, beware!

Lest, knowing the red burden you must bear,

You falter now! We pray for Peace—white Peace;

Yet if soft days must cease,

We shall go forth, fearless, and as one,

Until our task for Liberty is done.

Charles Hanson Towne.

Fifes and Drums — Poems of America at War

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