Chapter I: Preface

I have divided this book into three distinct parts. Part I, Trench Ballads, consists of forty American soldier poems of America’s participation in the World War, 1917-19, based entirely on actual facts and incidents, and almost exclusively on my own personal experiences and observations, when a private in Company G, 16th Infantry, First Division, of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Part II, Pre-war Poems, consists of three sets of verses written just before the active entry of America in the war, and appertaining to, but not an integral part of, it, and therefore grouped separately. Part III, Other Poems, contains those of a general and non-military character.

It is highly desirable the “Notes” at the end of this volume should be consulted, and that it be realized that with few exceptions, all these Trench Ballads were written in France, many scribbled on odd pieces of paper or on old envelopes in the trenches themselves, and consequently, when present locality is intimated, it is always France, that is to say, from the standpoint that I am speaking in and from the seat of operations. For example, when I use the term “over here,” it really means what the people at home in America would call “over there.” Hyperbole or little characteristic anecdotes that really never occurred, except in the brain of an author, I have absolutely shunned, and have endeavored to adhere strictly to “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” and to set forth the vicissitudes; the dangers, joys and tribulations of the army man, and especially the man in the ranks, and more especially the man in the ranks of the Infantry, as these latter formed the actual front-line or combat troops that bore the brunt in this greatest of all wars.

Absolute continuity or sequence would seem superfluous, but it will be observed that I have endeavored to maintain it to a certain extent, i.e., by gradually leading from a number of military verses, without any strict inter-relation, to the day of being wounded, then on to several poems concerning the military hospital, and finally bringing the Trench Ballads to a close with those having to do with the returning home of the soldier.

My previous book, “Army Ballads and Other Verses,” is the result of my experiences when serving as a private in Companies “L” and “G,” 23rd Infantry and Troop “I,” 5th Cavalry (Regulars), during the Philippine Insurrection of 1899-1902, and if “Army Ballads and Other Verses” is taken in conjunction with this volume, it is my hope together they may prove a fairly comprehensive anthology of the American soldier of recent times.

E. C. G. Philadelphia, November 1st, 1919.

CONTENTS

PART I—TRENCH BALLADS

_Trenches_ _Barb-Wire Posts_ _Feet_ _Your Gas-Mask_ _Slum and Beef Stew_ _Shell-Fire_ _Mr. Fly_ _The Salvation Army with the A. E. F._ _Shell-Holes_ _Food_ _Over the Top_ _The Battle Mother_ _Song of the Volunteers of 1917_ _O. D._ _Artillery Registering_ _Reciprocity_ _Trucks_ _Mademoiselle_ _The First Division_ _Little Gold Chevrons on My Cuffs_ _A Trip-Wire_ _The Favorite Song_ _Captain Blankburg_ _Little War Mothers_ _Interrupted Chow_ _S. O. S._ _The Gas-Proof Mule_ _Infantry of the World War_ _The Flowers of France_ _A First-Class Private_ _Birds of Battle_ _Only for You_ _Cooties_ _Old Fusee_ _The Colors of Blighty_ _When Nurse Comes in_ _Charlie Chaplin in Blighty_ _Two Worlds_ _Embarkation Home_ _The Statue of Liberty_

PART II—PRE-WAR POEMS

_To France—1917_ _The Pacifist_ _Battle Hymn of ’17_

PART III—OTHER VERSES

_My Sapphire_ _The Twins_ _On Sending My Book to an English Friend_ _Immortal Keats_ _To a Little Girl_ _God_ _The Golden Day_ _Notes_

MY COMRADES IN THE RANKS.

_You chose no easy Service,
No safe job, friends of mine,
But the mud of the shell-torn, trenches
And the foremost battle-line.
No camouflage patriotism—
Though you had from a wealth to choose
But the wicked work of No Man’s Land,
Filling a man’s-size shoes._

_You didn’t say you wouldn’t play
If you got no shoulder bars—
You even placed your Country
Above a general’s stars:
For shocking, very shocking,
You didn’t give a damn
About your "social status,"
When you fought for Uncle Sam._

_Friends of mine, friends of mine,
I’ve shared your toil and tears—
Your dangers and your little woes,
When days were turned to years.
I may not make them understand
The things that you have done,
But God bless you and God keep you—
Every blessed mother’s son._