Second Battle of the Marne

ALLEN TUCKER

BY the banks of the Marne,

Under the ragged flags,

In the green graves,.

The dead slept.

Again was heard the sound of war,

Clarions, clarions, clarions,

Calling, calling, calling,

And the rolling drums.

The dead stirred.

And now the noise of guns,

Roaring, rending, breaking,

Coming ever nearer,

Again the German guns.

The dead stirred.

Then from the clarions,

Sudden, the piercing cry,

"Aux armes, citoyens."

The dead uprose.

The spirits and souls of the soldier dead;

From the little lonely graves,

From the great crowded graves,

The gallant ghosts arose,

Free, clear, serenely gay,

The spirits rose and fought again for France:

In the air,

Through the ranks,

With the guns,

Everywhere,

Invisible,intangible, impalpable, indestructible.

Under the flag they had died to save,

Defending friends and brothers,

Helping, guarding, quickening,

The men of the New World;

And when victory was won,

Once more in their quiet graves, the dead slept.