Harry Wilmans
I was just turned twenty-one,
And Henry Phipps, the Sunday-school superintendent,
Made a speech in Bindle’s Opera House.
“The honor of the flag must be upheld,” he said,
“Whether it be assailed by a barbarous tribe of Tagalogs
Or the greatest power in Europe.”
And we cheered and cheered the speech and the flag he waved
As he spoke.
And I went to the war in spite of my father,
And followed the flag till I saw it raised
By our camp in a rice field near Manila,
And all of us cheered and cheered it.
But there were flies and poisonous things;
And there was the deadly water,
And the cruel heat,
And the sickening, putrid food;
And the smell of the trench just back of the tents
Where the soldiers went to empty themselves;
And there were the whores who followed us, full of syphilis;
And beastly acts between ourselves or alone,
With bullying, hatred, degradation among us,
And days of loathing and nights of fear
To the hour of the charge through the steaming swamp,
Following the flag,
Till I fell with a scream, shot through the guts.
Now there’s a flag over me in Spoon River!
A flag! A flag!
poem by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Related quotes
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.
quote by Zell Miller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Laws protecting the United States flag do not cut away at the freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment... Congress made this position clear upon passage of the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which prohibited desecration of the flag.
quote by Larry Craig
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Two Flags
Some people are born under two flags.
Their parents are of two countries
and this is the situation of me.
I live under one flag,
but wish I lived under the other.
For a while, I lived under the other flag
and felt the world belong to me.
Now I live under the one flag
and everything seems to be taken from me.
Those who inspire my life
live under the other flag.
While the ones whose flag I live under
fail to recognise the potential within me.
It is a dilemma I face everyday,
whether to go or to stay.
However I am not the only one,
there must be many more just like me
who live under two flags
and wish they lived under the one farthest away.
2 May 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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My Flag My Country
Wind blows, my flag dances, in the wind
The anthem is sang, souls in unison bond
My flag is tough in the wind, none would
Blow my flag a way, my country I'm proud
Defender is me, the glory of spilled blood
During emancipation from slavery,
The ills washed, and made white as cotton
The struggles, the quest for victory
My flag flies, in wholeness,
The sweet, reminiscences of my country's history.
poem by Charles Jagongo Ogola
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Lowering
The flag is folded
lengthwise, and lengthwise again,
folding toward the open edge,
so that the union of stars on the blue
field remains outward in full view;
a triangular folding is then begun
at the striped end,
by bringing the corner of the folded edge
to the open edge;
the outer point, turned inward along the open edge,
forms the next triangular fold:
the folding continued so, until the end is reached,
the final corner tucked between
the folds of the blue union,
the form of the folded flag is found to resemble that
of a 3-cornered pouch, or thick cocked hat.
Take this flag, John Glenn, instead of a friend;
instead of a brother, Edward Kennedy, take this flag;
instead of a father, Joe Kennedy, take this flag;
this flag instead of a husband, Ethel Kennedy, take this flag;
this 9-times-folded red-white-striped, star-spotted-blue flag,
tucked and pocketed neatly,
Nation, instead of a leader, take this folded flag.
Robert Kennedy, coffin without coverlet,
beside this hole in the grass,
beside your brother, John Kennedy,
in the grass,
take, instead of a country,
this folded flag;
Robert Kennedy, take this
hole in the grass.
poem by May Swenson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Flag Song
Dear flag! Old flag! O, the blue and white,
Floating in the years long gone,
How our pulses beat,
Mocking at defeat,
Following the standard on.
Proud flag, New flag, purple and the gold
Shouting past the legions go,
Carried onward fleet
Knowing no retreat,
Flouting at the winds that blow.
Old flag, New flag, colours of the sky
Gleaming as the seasons roll,
Morning's blue attire,
Sunset's purple fire,
Golden braid on eve's dark stole.
Clear voice, young voice, ringing through the school,
Fluting in the sweet time flown,
Youth so debonair,
May not linger there,
Youngsters are to grey men grown.
Old school, kind school, fostering the weak,
Never brighter days have shone,
Boys from evil stayed,
Gallant men are made,
Following the Standard on.
poem by Frank Samuel Williamson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Freedom's Battle-Song
RED, white, blue, the flag that leads us on,
Stripes as red as blood well shed by many a hero gone.
Now 'tis ours to storm the towers of tyranny and wrong,
Freedom's sons who front the guns with Freedom's battle-song.
Fly the flag from dome and steeple,
Fly the flag from home and school,
Flag of Freedom's birth,
While we battle that the rule
Of the people
By the people
For the people
Shall prevail o'er all the earth.
Red, white, blue, the flag that leads us on,
White as peace for whose release our fighting gear we don;
Peace enchained, crushed, profaned, shall yet in beauty stand,
Yet shall bless with fruitfulness her desolated land.
Fly the flag from dome and steeple,
Fly the flag from home and school,
Flag of Freedom's birth
While we battle that the rule
Of the people
By the people
For the people
Shall prevail o'er all the earth.
Red, white, blue, the flag that leads us on,
Blue as skies whose starry eyes shall see our victory won.
Freedom's sons and champions, to her our hearts are true,
We who fight for Human Right, and the Red,
White, Blue.
Fly the flag from dome and steeple,
Fly, the flag from home and school,
Flag of Freedom's birth,
While we battle that the rule
Of the people
By the people
For the people
Shall prevail o'er all the earth.
poem by Katharine Lee Bates
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Delicate Cluster
DELICATE cluster! flag of teeming life!
Covering all my lands! all my sea-shores lining!
Flag of death! (how I watch'd you through the smoke of battle
pressing!
How I heard you flap and rustle, cloth defiant!)
Flag cerulean! sunny flag! with the orbs of night dappled!
Ah my silvery beauty! ah my woolly white and crimson!
Ah to sing the song of you, my matron mighty!
My sacred one, my mother.
poem by Walt Whitman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Worrying that banning flag desecration would inhibit free speech reveals a misunderstanding of the flag's fundamental nature.
quote by Adrian Cronauer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Surrender
White flag white flag
Jesus be lord of my life
Come and rule that is thine
Fix the shambles And strife
This man is your vassel
Tell me what u want done
Whatever it is, help me i pray
Surrender to one
White flag white flag
Waving in hollow defeat
The enemy has finally won
Brave man hung by the feet
Surrender after surrender
God what have we done! ?
help us please remember
Surrender to one
poem by Joses Tirtabudi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Our Own Flag
They mustered us up with a royal din,
In wearisome weeks of drought.
Ere ever half of the crops were in,
Or the half of the sheds cut out.
'Twas down with the saddle and spurs and whip
The swagman dropped his swag.
And we hurried us off to the outbound ship
To fight for the English flag.
The English flag, it is ours in sooth
We stand by it wrong or right.
But deep in our hearts is the honest truth
We fought for the sake of a fight.
And the English flag may flutter and wave
Where the World-wide Oceans toss,
But the flag the Australian dies to save
Is the flag of the Southern Cross.
If ever they want us to stand the brunt
Of a hard-faught, grim campaign,
We will carry our own flag up to the front
When we go to the wars again.
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Where cries begin when a broken tear smiles
I rest under a shady tree
Autumnal faded leaves tremble
with the peevish wind.
It looks like a Beethoven's symphony.
And I gaze at a faraway roof top flag post.
Torn flag waves in its sad rhythm
But the flag post stands straight
Like a young recruit.
Oh! If I am a newly painted flag post in the battlefield of life
Then I could have teach the flag how to show its true colors.
* To my unseen friend the silent song smith Nick Percowycz.
No palpitation heard since a long time from your territory. [Anchorville/Michigan] Are you passing well my dear?
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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When the Irish Flag Went By
’Twas Eight-Hour Day, and proudly
Old Labour led the way;
The drums were bearing loudly,
The crowded streets were gay;
But something touched my heart like pain,
I could not check the sigh
That rose within my bosom when
The Irish Flag went by.
Bright flags were raised about it
And one of them my own:
And patriots trod beneath it—
But it seemed all alone.
I thought of ruined Ireland
While crystals from the sky
Fell soft like tears by angels shed,
As the Irish Flag went by.
I love the dark green standard
As Irish patriots do;
It waves above the rebels,
And I’m a rebel too,
I thought of Ireland’s darkest years,
Her griefs that follow fast;
For drooping as ’twere drenched with tears
The Irish Flag went past.
And though ’twas not in Erin
That my forefathers trod;
And though my wandering footsteps
Ne’er pressed the “dear old sod”,
I felt the wrongs the Irish feel
Beneath the northern sky.
And felt the rebel in my heart
When the Irish Flag went by.
I tell you, men of England,
Who rule the land by might;
I tell you, Irish traitors
Who sell the sons of light,
The tyranny shall fail at last,
That changeful days are nigh;
And you shall dip your red flag yet,
When the Irish Flag goes by.
poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Follow The Flag
You can stand alone
Or with somebody else
Or stand with all of us, together
If you can believe
In something bigger than yourself
You can follow the flag forever
They say its just a dream
That dreamers dreamed
That its an empty thing that really has no meaning
They say its all a lie
But its not a lie
Im going to follow the flag til I die
Into every life a little rain must fall
But its not gonna rain forever
You can rise above--you can rise above it all
We will follow the flag together
We will follow the flag together
song performed by by Randy Newman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Am American
'I am American', I shout
When the flag marches on by,
I am American, and I am proud
As her glory comes to my eyes.
For the flag that which I live for
Is by the same that I will die
For I am proud and free; I am American,
And forever, I pray she flies.
On the streets of America
Upon the streets of the World
I walk in such pride and vigor
Whenever the flag is unfurled.
I am an American that is me
I'll proclaim that through out my life
I will live the way by which she flies
Unto the day, that I die.
And when I have no more breath to breathe
Or when the Worlds fighting is through
I will have lived and died an American
And my flag, she would have proudly flew.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Our Flag
see
my flag is colourful
your flag is very nice
but this kid love the red....
you like the other
we can raice our flag
we can be proud
we can raice in high
I wish to hang it up
raice it up
fly with my loving stars.....
poem by Thampi KEE
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bathed In War's Perfume
BATHED in war's perfume--delicate flag!
(Should the days needing armies, needing fleets, come again,)
O to hear you call the sailors and the soldiers! flag like a
beautiful woman!
O to hear the tramp, tramp, of a million answering men! O the ships
they arm with joy!
O to see you leap and beckon from the tall masts of ships!
O to see you peering down on the sailors on the decks!
Flag like the eyes of women.
poem by Walt Whitman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Especially today as we fight the war on terror - against an enemy that represents hatred, extremism and stands behind no flag - we need to remember the sacrifices that have gone into protecting our flag.
quote by Bill Shuster
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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American Soldier
-Author Unknown-
It's the Soldier, not the reporter
who has given us the freedom of the press.
It's the Soldier, not the poet,
who has given us the freedom of speech.
It's the Soldier, not the politicians
that ensures our right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag.
**************************************** ********************
This poem was emailed to me by a friend and it did not have a title or an author. i hope i have provided the proper respect in providing an appropriate title for this honorabe author who remains anonymous.
poem by Thisoul Ofmine
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Kittie’s Toys
A CHILD'S SONG
[WRITTEN FOR KATHLEEN]
I wish I had a soldier, a soldier, a soldier,
I wish I had a soldier to fight for love of me
Marie has a soldier, a soldier, a soldier,
Marie has a soldier, a gallant man is he.
I wish I had a bright flag, a gay flag, a dear flag,
I would love a fair flag to fly in liberty,
Gretchen has a big flag, a brave flag, a strong flag,
Gretchen has a fine flag that floats all high and free.
I wish I had a small ship, a strong ship, a good ship,
I would love a trim ship to sail upon the sea.
Johnny has a big ship, a grey ship, a grand ship,
Johnny took my small ship with all his big navie.
I wish I had a penny, a penny, a penny,
I wish I had a penny that all belonged to me,
I would build a fair house, a great house, a strong house,
I would make one grand house for all the world to see.
But Johnny stole my penny, my penny, my penny,
And Johnny took my bright flag that floated fair and free,
Then Johnny had my small ship, my trim ship, my good ship,
And Johnny broke my soldier that fought for liberty.
Now John would be my soldier, my soldier, my soldier,
But John he is a greedy boy, a selfish boy is he;
And Johnny beats the wee ones, the small ones, the weak ones,
He takes their playthings from them in the name of liberty.
When Johnny gets a whacking, a whacking, a whacking,
When Johnny gets a whacking, I think he'll let me be,
And I shall have my penny, my penny, my penny,
And I shall buy a bright flag to wave in victory.
poem by Dora Sigerson Shorter
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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