Great Poems of the World War

1–26 June 1918

Battle of Belleau Wood

BATTLE OF BELLEAU WOOD

EDGAR A. GUEST

It’s recorded as a battle, but I fancy it will live,
As the brightest gem of courage human struggles have to give.
Inch by inch, they crawled to victory toward the flaming mounts of guns;
Inch by inch, they crawled to grapple with the barricaded Huns;
On through fields that death was sweeping with a murderous fire,
they went
Till the Teuton line was vanquished and the German strength was spent.

Ebbed and flowed the tides of battle as they’ve seldom done before;
Slowly, surely, moved the Yankees against all the odds of war.
For the honor of the fallen, for the glory of the dead,
The living line of courage kept the faith and moved ahead.
They’d been ordered not to falter, and when night came on they stood
With Old Glory proudly flying o’er the trees of Belleau Wood.

The war is over, over there,
And Peace has made her bow--
But the Battle of Verdun is on
At Jenkins’ Corners now!

All’s still along the rippling Somme,
Likewise at Belleau Wood--
But the Jenkins’ Corners Battle now
Is merely going good!

Now beaten into plowshares are
The swords once dripping wet
With human gore--but Heinies fall
At Jenkins’ Corners yet!