Page:Poems of Patriotism (1942).djvu/47

 Aye, we will follow the flag
 * Wherever she goes,

Into the tropic sun,
 * Into the northern snows;

Go where the guns ring out
 * Scattering steel and lead,

Painting the hills with blood,
 * Strewing the fields with dead.

But in each heart must be,
 * And back of each bitter gun,

Love for the best in life
 * After the fighting’s done.

Aye, we will follow the flag
 * Into benighted lands,

Brave in the faith for which,
 * Proudly, our banner stands.

Life for her life we’ll pay,
 * Blood for her blood we’ll give,

Fighting, but not to kill,
 * Save that the best shall live.

But, when the cannon’s roar
 * Dies in a hymn of peace,