Page:Poems of Patriotism (1942).djvu/74

 Because I am his father, they Expect me to put grief away; Because I am a man, and rough And sometimes short of speech and gruff, The women folks at home believe His absence doesn’t make me grieve; But how I felt, they little know, The day I smiled and let him go.

They little know the dreams I had Long cherished for my sturdy lad; They little guess the wrench it meant That day when off to war he went; They little know the tears I checked While standing, smiling and erect; They never heard my smothered sigh When it was time to say good-by.

“What does his father think and say?” The neighbors ask from day to day. “Oh, he’s a man,” they answer then. “And you know how it is with men.