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Ballads of Peace in War

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<h2> PREPAREDNESS </h2> <h2> I. THE DRUMMER BOY </h2> You never know when war may come, And that is why I keep a drum: For if all sudden in the night From east or west came battle fright, And you were sound asleep in bed, And very soon to join the dead, You then would gladly wish my drum Would warn you that the war had come. So that is why on afternoons I tell the neighborhood my tunes: Sometimes behind a fortress bench, Or where the hedges make a trench, I beat the drum with all my might, While people look with awful fright, Just as they would if war had come, And heard the warning of my drum. They must be thankful, I am sure, Because they now may feel secure, And rest so safe and sound in bed, Without wild dreams of fearful dread; For now they hear me all the day, As round the yard I march and play, To let them know if war should come They'll get the warning of my drum. <h2> II. THE SAILOR </h2> A sailor that rides the ocean wave, And I in my room at home: Where are the seas I fear to brave, Or the lands I may not roam? At the attic window I take my stand, And tighten the curtain sail, Then, ahoy! I ride the leagues of land, Whether in calm or gale. Tree at anchor along the road Bow as I speed along; At sunny brooks in the valley I load Cargoes of blossom and song; Stories I take on the passing wind From the plains and forest seas, And the Golden Fleece I yet will find, And the fruit of Hesperides. Steady I keep my watchful eyes, As I range the thousand miles, Till evening tides in western skies Turn gold the cloudland isles; Then fast is the hatch and dark the screen, And I bring my cabin light; With a wink I change to a submarine And drop in the sea of Night. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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