Page:Patriotic pieces from the Great War, Jones, 1918.djvu/161

Rh TO THE GLORY OF THE NEEDLE

By permission of Needlecraft, Augusta, Maine

Never before have they plied so well—

Never so sturdily;

Love in the wool, and there's love in the stitch,

And the heart of the woman is doubly rich

Who's knitting for you and me.

The way of the war is a right hard way,

And troubled and grim and blind;

But what of the mothers at home to-day,

And the love that we left behind?

Click! click! click!—so do the needles sing,

Click! click! click!—souls of us seem a-wing.

And the gray wool falls into magic place,

And we fancy we see such a fair, sweet face

That battle is blessed with a holy grace—

And so do the needles sing!

Never before was their task so dear—

Never so bitter-sweet!

We of the trench and the blood-red land

Look to the thrift of that swift, sure hand

In victory—or defeat!

Our thoughts stray back to a sunlit room

Where the casement is wide and bright;

And the fairy work of a finger-loom

That spins from the dawn till night.