Page:Poems of Patriotism (1942).djvu/39

 It seems to me I’ve never tried
 * To do so much about the place,

Nor been so slow to come inside.
 * But since I’ve got the flag to face,

Each night when I come home to rest
 * I feel that I must look up there

And say: “Old Flag, I’ve done my best,
 * Today I’ve tried to do my share.”

And sometimes, just to catch the breeze, I stop my work, and o’er the trees Old Glory fairly shouts my way: “You’re shirking far too much today!”

The help have caught the spirit, too;
 * The hired man takes off his cap

Before the old red, white, and blue,
 * Then to the horses says: “Giddap!”

And starting bravely to the field
 * He tells the milkmaid by the door:

“We’re going to make these acres yield
 * More than they’ve ever done before.”

She smiles to hear his gallant brag, Then drops a curtsey to the flag, And in her eyes there seems to shine A patriotism that is fine.