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 Under the 
 
 Red Cross 
 
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 THE GIFT OF 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 PS 3545.R566U5 1901 
 
 ill 
 
 Under the red cross. 
 
 3 1924 021 732 080 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021732080 
 
i 
 
Under the Red Cross 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID HENRY WRIGHT, A.B., LLB. 
 
 1420 CHESTNUT STREET. PHILADELPHIA, PENNA. 
 
 DREXEL BIDDLE, PUBLISHER 
 
 NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA LONDON 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO TORONTO 
 
 1901 
 
^opyngni, 1901 
 BY ANTHONY J. DRBXKL BIDDI^B 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 DREXBt BIDDI<E 
 
 PHILADELPHIA LONDON 
 
TO THE BOYS IN BLUE OF OUR ARMY AND NAVY, 
 AND SOME OF MY FRIENDS WHO WERE HURT: 
 
 CURTIS.DRUMMER OF THETHIRTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN, 
 
 LEG SHOT OFF BY A CANNON-BALL ; 
 DEMPSEY, OF TEXAS, SHOT IN SEVENTEEN PLACES, 
 
 YET MERRY AS A CRICKET ; 
 
 SERGEANT BROWN, COLORED, OF THE NINTH U. S. 
 
 CAVALRY ; 
 
 LT. COL. CARROLL, SHOT IN BOTH HIPS, 
 
 AND MANY OTHERS 
 
 WHO SAW THE STARS SHINE OUT ON THOSE HOT 
 
 NIGHTS BENEATH THE RED CROSS; 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 MRS. LT. CUSHMAN, THE MISSES EVANS, MISS GOULD, 
 MY WIFE, ANNA BIOREN WRIGHT, 
 
 AND ALL THOSE WHO HELPED IN ANY WAY, 
 
 THE LINES IN THIS LITTLE BOOK 
 
 ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY 
 
 DEDICATED. 
 
Contents 
 
 
 
 PACK 
 
 Prayer for Our Boys in Blue . 
 
 7 
 
 The Maine 
 
 8 
 
 The Camp at Night 
 
 9 
 
 Washington .... 
 
 lO 
 
 The Old Academy . 
 
 12 
 
 Love and Life 
 
 • 13 
 
 Where Bryan Leads 
 
 14 
 
 The Game of Life 
 
 • 15 
 
 Love, Fame, Death 
 
 16 
 
 At Barbados . 
 
 . 17 
 
 Island of Porto Rico 
 
 • 17 
 
 Rev. William H. Furness 
 
 18 
 
 A Star . 
 
 19 
 
 The Conductor's Wife . 
 
 20 
 
 Our Country 
 
 21 
 
 What is the Other World ? 
 
 22 
 
 For Little June 
 
 23 
 
 The Soul 
 
 23 
 
i'AGB 
 
 Paris by Day 24 
 
 Paris by Night 25 
 
 Boies Penrose 26 
 
 Hotel Sagamore, Lake George 27 
 
 Hearts . . 27 
 
 Quaint Olde Burlington . 28 
 Life . . 29 
 
 The Two Crowns . 29 
 
 The Duke of Clarence 30 
 
 The Duke of York 31 
 
 Victoria 32 
 
Prayer for Our Boys in Blue. 
 
 God bless them all, my boys in blue, 
 With hearts so tender and so true ; 
 God watch them in the darkest night 
 And lead them ever in the right. 
 
 God shield them through the scorching day 
 And teach my boys all how to pray ; 
 God keep them safe on land and sea 
 And bring them back to you and me. 
 
The Madne. 
 
 O GREAT disaster ! A city gone, 
 
 Buried beneath the sea ; 
 
 Three hundred Hves dropped out 
 
 And gone to meet their God alone. 
 
 Nor revelry nor shout 
 
 Nor glorious action to stand 
 
 In historic journals of our land. 
 
 How often have I seen the great Maine 
 
 move, 
 A palace of the sea, 
 And watched the waves that play 
 About her mighty hulk their love display 
 In rippling kisses there ! 
 And press her bosom white 
 With priceless jewels of the sea bedight. 
 
 Oh, curses on the land that bore the man 
 
 Whose hand or brain could stand 
 
 And, hellish, plot or plan 
 
 So foul a deed, no equal foe to scan. 
 
 But, worse than a serpent's course. 
 
 Who stings outside, crept in 
 
 And stung the great ironclad from within ! 
 
For every man that went below the deep 
 
 We'll send a full score more 
 
 To bear him company. 
 
 God of nations, who all reckonings keep, 
 
 To Thee we leave the plan ! 
 
 Thou Who keepest watch o'er all 
 
 Send through every land and heart thy call. 
 
 The Camp at Night. 
 
 Where tented sleep the boys at night, 
 While the moon shines on the sea ; 
 
 The starlit skies are full of light, 
 As the boys sleep peacefully. 
 
Washin£(ton. 
 
 For the p. O. S. of A. 
 
 Thou spirit of the historic past, 
 
 Who guided for us the Ship of State 
 
 Throughout the perils of those other years ; 
 
 Who hung our guerdon on the mast — 
 Our flag of stars ! Our flag of fate — 
 
 Keep near and shield us from our tremb- 
 ling fears ! 
 
 Let the great past to greater present yield 
 
 Homage that is so justly won and due. 
 Strong strains were then upon our anchor 
 
 chains. 
 Now a century gone we fear to shield, 
 Another land, another race that sue 
 To come to learn and share our well- 
 earned gains. 
 
 Is it for us to stand aside and see 
 Cuba and Porto Rico downward go ? 
 
 Have they not suffered centuries of shame 
 
 Beneath the rod of wrong and tyranny ? 
 We come a brother, not a deadly foe, 
 
 To take them with us and to our land 
 reclaim : 
 
 lO 
 
Where freedom stands within her gates of 
 
 truth 
 And bids the nations of the world watch 
 
 on, 
 To see true greatness gentle as a child ; 
 To lift to knowledge every striving youth; 
 And that the echoes all shall say, well 
 
 done ! 
 When we look back and see a record 
 
 undefiled — 
 
 A century of greatness and of grandeur 
 rare 
 In history of all the nations of the world. 
 Come, brothers, our great past to greater 
 
 present gives 
 A lustre and a fame that all of us can share ; 
 Old tyrannies of the past are being hurled 
 By the giant present that so grandly lives. 
 
 And in those fair islands of the sea. 
 
 Where Dewey fought for freedom, 
 Next year shall end the darkness of the 
 
 past. 
 When liberty and freedom shall see 
 
Nine million souls to higher ideals won, 
 And our great flag shall shine upon their 
 mast. 
 
 Now, shall we tremble and turn back 
 When Washington's clear voice doth 
 call us on 
 To the larger work and the wider field ? — 
 Did our father stay in England's beaten 
 track ? — 
 Or pass on, a nation to freedom won, 
 Till star on star is shining on our nation's 
 shield ? 
 
 The Old Academy. 
 
 I LOVE the old Academy, 
 The hall of old-time memory : 
 To see the faces, tier on tier ; 
 To watch the wondrous chandelier, 
 The marvel of my childhood years. 
 
Love and Life. 
 
 From what ill star did rise the blood 
 
 And blossom of our love 
 That it should live to reach the flood, 
 
 Then perish like a dove, 
 
 Who, waking on some summer morn. 
 Doth find her nestlings gone ? 
 
 Her wailing cry of love forlorn 
 Moans like an organ's tone. 
 
 Oh, love, to reach its heights, then pass 
 
 Away into the dawn ! 
 As the dew passeth from the grass. 
 
 And what was jewelled lawn 
 
 Becomes a dry and burning space 
 
 Under the midday sun. 
 So passeth from the human face 
 
 Its gleam when love is done ; 
 
 And what was all a living place 
 
 Becomes a desert bare, 
 Where hot winds weave their sandy lace 
 
 When grim death rules there. 
 
 '3 
 
Where Bryan Leads. 
 
 Into blind ways where chaos sways ; 
 
 In lands where lights and pathways are 
 
 unknown, 
 Weird forests where the leaves are 
 strown, 
 And unblazed trees line the trackless ways. 
 Steer away, voter, steer away ! 
 
 No course is there across his trackless 
 seas. 
 It would not be so bad for you and me 
 If his strange land lay far beyond the sea; 
 But he spoils my garden and your fruit 
 trees, 
 So steer away, voter, steer away ! 
 
 His voice leads on and ever sings ; 
 But steer away, there is danger here. 
 As the bell on the buoy sings rocks are 
 near. 
 So his voice tells where the danger clings. 
 Steer away, voter, steer away ! 
 
 14 
 
He knows it not, but, as sure as fate. 
 The greater the noise the greater the 
 
 grief 
 From the bell of the buoy on the rocky 
 reef. 
 So steer away ere it be too late. 
 Steer away, voter, steer away ! 
 
 The Game of Life. 
 
 Life is like a game of poker. 
 And yet we very seldom draw, 
 
 In all the chances of the game, 
 
 A hand that stands without a flaw. 
 
 It is all a game of bluff, bluff, 
 
 Yet it seems that we always hope to 
 win ; 
 But we mostly get it " on the rough," 
 
 And very seldom " scrape the tin." 
 
 Yet draw again, my brave fine lads ! 
 
 Keep your lip and eye in place ; 
 Do not worry over stabs 
 
 And look the future in the face. 
 15 
 
Love. 
 
 Love comes, close by her side a little child. 
 As she nearer drew there arose the wild, 
 Swift, fiery flood of fond love's desire. 
 Licking ever forward like flames of fire. 
 
 Fame. 
 
 Fame comes, and in her hand a flaming 
 
 torch ; 
 While as she nearer draws the awful scorch 
 Of flame burns through and sears upon 
 
 the brain, 
 Tensing every nerve with fearful pain. 
 
 Death. 
 
 Death comes, and in her hand she bears 
 
 a gift ; 
 While as she nearer glides the peaceful 
 
 drift 
 Of rest flows through and fills the soul 
 
 with calm, 
 Like, roll and measure of some mighty 
 
 psalm. 
 
 i6 
 
At B&rbados. 
 
 Oh, come, my love, and thou and I will go 
 Down to the lovely land of Barbados ! 
 
 Where we can sit and feel the sunshine glow 
 Upon the wide blue sea at Barbados. 
 
 Nor work, nor care, but just enjoy the air 
 That we can breathe at lovely Barbados — 
 
 The paradise of space, and free from care, 
 Down by the shining sea at Barbados. 
 
 Island of Porto Rico. 
 
 Queen of the Southern sea ! Giant moun- 
 tains, clad 
 With greens and gold, like glowing opals 
 
 shine ; 
 Rocks hanging overhead, where twine 
 Wonderful vines that swing and birds 
 make glad the misty, vaporous silence. 
 17 
 
Rev. William H. Furness. 
 
 As when at the close in the dusk of day 
 We see a great white mass of clouds 
 
 swung low, 
 Radiant with the glory and the glow 
 
 Of the departing sun, the vast display 
 
 Of heaven's beauty shines in fine array, 
 So shinesthy life upon our life below — 
 Too high for earth and for our cares. 
 Too low 
 
 For heaven and for its eternal day. 
 
 Of olden time there is a record told 
 Of a voice speaking from out of heaven ; 
 So when we hear thy voice roll out again 
 
 We feel, indeed, the limpid truth of gold : 
 "There is no death," — "And ye are my 
 
 children," — 
 A mighty story born of love and pain. 
 
 i8 
 
A Star. 
 
 Across my vision there will come, some 
 
 night, 
 
 A star that is more rare and beautiful 
 
 Than ever was a star before ; since full 
 
 Was the moon the first time that she gave 
 
 light 
 Unto the world or since the sun's first 
 flight, 
 That seeming rose to fall, grew bright 
 
 and dull. 
 From all of heaven's mystic lights I'll cull 
 Just that one perfect star, so wondrous 
 
 bright. 
 And unto me its light will shine and bless, 
 
 All hallowed with a beauty of its own ; 
 And it shall be my guiding star through life. 
 For then no more shall care or storm dis- 
 tress — 
 Darkness dense shall to darkness dense 
 have flown. 
 My star shall bear the sacred name of 
 "wife." 
 
 19 
 
The Conductor's Wife. 
 
 Out in the storm and swirl of the snow 
 The conductor's wife stands there ; 
 Her basket is full of dainties rare 
 
 And she heeds not the wind and the blow. 
 
 The train has stopped but a moment spare, 
 And yet in the gloam and the gloom 
 Is a fairer scene than a palace room, 
 
 For love and trust are there. 
 
 But a moment, yet time for a kiss 
 Ere the train speeds on its way ; 
 Yet each is filled with a glow and spray 
 
 From the ocean of love's great bliss. 
 
 A braver man is he for that kiss 
 
 That came through the storm and the 
 
 snow; 
 And his heart beats with a glad, sweet 
 glow 
 That for worlds he would not miss. 
 
Oh, brave, sweet wife, you little knew 
 Of the lives you saved that night ! 
 For the kiss you gave in the dark grew 
 bright 
 
 And saved his all and the crew. 
 
 So here's to the conductor, brave and true ! 
 
 And his wife in the storm and snow! 
 
 And may we all know the strong, sweet 
 glow 
 That gleamed in her eyes of blue ! 
 
 Our Country. 
 
 When Columbia, with her breast of stars, 
 Has once felt the pulse-throb of the life 
 
 Of any new star upon her breast 
 
 She will not say it nay. Tho' wars 
 
 Should rage and wild should be the strife. 
 
 She shields the weakest with the rest. 
 
 When into her eyes a people look. 
 
 To pray and hope for help and succor, 
 
 She will not look aside. Her glance 
 Is ever firm. She will not brook 
 A slight from the greatest. To secure 
 
 Freedom for all she wields her free lance. 
 
What is the Other World. 
 
 An answer to Mrs. G. H. Gilbert's question. 
 
 What is the other world? — a land of peace ! 
 No woe or passion can change the sweet- 
 ness there ; 
 All is love in that flower-scented air. 
 Beyond the sunset clouds of golden fleece 
 There standeth God, to give all pain sur- 
 cease. 
 He guides us all as with a mother's care, 
 With love for all, yet ever more to spare. 
 To all who asks He gives His peace, sweet 
 peace. 
 
 To reach the other world is going on — 
 Beyond the sea where lies the wave- 
 swept shore : 
 Beyond the sea of life, eternal dawn, 
 With all the glory of the breaking day : — 
 God's love and sunshine heaping more 
 and more, 
 As peace He gives which passes not away. 
 
For Little June. 
 
 This little book I send to thee 
 That thee may learn to spell, 
 
 And know that in the A, B, C, 
 The wonders that there dwell. 
 
 They tell of fish that swim the sea, 
 Of birds that fly the air ; 
 
 Of little boys as good as thee 
 And little girls with golden hair. 
 
 So puzzle o'er the little B's 
 And learn the circling C's ; 
 
 In years to come thou'll not despise 
 The learning of the wise. 
 
 The Soul. 
 
 Awake, my soul ! and thou and I 
 Will sally forth to conquer life ; 
 
 To stand for truth and then to die. 
 Face fronting face, in sturdy strife. 
 23 
 
Paris by Day. 
 
 Perfect, beautiful, radiant city ! 
 
 With miles of beauty stretching every 
 
 way. 
 Full of light and glory of perfect day ; 
 Sunshine warm and clear as God's charity. 
 Clean and sweet with angelic chastity ; 
 Thy fragrant trees, whose branches, 
 
 moving, sway 
 To let the air and sunshine laugh and 
 
 play: 
 All is beauty in this perfect city. 
 
 Thy streets, with miles of perfect build- 
 ings lined ; 
 
 The noble Arch of Triumph, the Made- 
 leine ; 
 The gloom of the tomb, the sparkle of life. 
 
 Thy wondrous beauty, that is not con- 
 fined 
 
 Alone to shores of silvery Seine, 
 But spreads to Versailles, where beauty is 
 rife. 
 
 24 
 
Paris by Night. 
 
 Oh, thou treacherous, lecherous city ! 
 To change thy fair robe of golden sun- 
 shine 
 To this, all stained with filthy mire and 
 wine ; 
 To hold fair souls in such captivity. 
 " Pity !" cry angels hov'ring o'er this city. 
 Oh, the cruel absinthe ! As serpents twine 
 Their coils to kill, so absinthe doth entwine 
 Its emerald sheen with dread enmity. 
 No outline fine and clear, as Turner drew 
 Of Rome or Greece, but all a horrid blur ; 
 No more the colors faint or sharp and 
 bright, 
 But smear on smear, to make the darkest 
 
 hue. 
 Oh, France ! fair France ! if all thy glories 
 were 
 For this, arise and clean thy lamp aright. 
 
 25 
 
Boies Penrose. 
 
 Out from the olde homespun days he seems 
 
 to come, 
 Stalwart and strong, with some of John 
 
 Alden, 
 And yet a sturdy touch of Standish when 
 He stood among that colony and won 
 Some of his glory. To wear the homespun 
 And look fit is the part of sturdy men ; 
 Yet with this to hold in leash tongue and 
 
 pen 
 At hand is to ensure one a welcome 
 To the halls where men, sturdy in debate, 
 Hold their own when the struggle surges 
 
 on. 
 Not hot, caustic, bitter, but always there. 
 A steadfast friend, patient, ready to wait ; 
 A keen fighter, not one to cringe or fawn. 
 But one to stand erect. To do. To dare. 
 
 26 
 
Hotel S&.g[amore, Lake George. 
 
 Air : Abide With Me. 
 
 No care or sorrow is there any more, 
 When once we reach thy shore, sweet 
 Sagamore. 
 
 No more the city's din or haunt of sin. 
 When once, sweet Sagamore, thy shore 
 we win. 
 
 And so we know there is a place afar — 
 A land of rest upon some distant star — 
 
 Which, once we reach, we can sit down and 
 
 rest. 
 Cheered and made glad upon the Saviour's 
 
 breast. 
 
 Hearts. 
 
 Hearts do not break. 
 
 They only scar ; 
 
 And where the wound was made, 
 
 The parts a little tougher are. 
 27 
 
Quaint Olde Burlington. 
 
 Where lieth lovely Burlington, 
 All sleeping in the sun, 
 The days and years pass swift away. 
 Peace reigns here every day. 
 
 In olden times the strife of creeds, 
 Held hands with noble deeds ; 
 When Keith from Quakerdom didst turn 
 His heart did eager burn. 
 
 When Doane's son turned to holy Rome 
 He sought the soul's last home ; 
 Yet all were seeking for the light 
 That maketh darkness bright. 
 
 To-day the followers of Hicks 
 With worldly folk now mix ; 
 St. Mary's bells yet calleth out. 
 For all of Doane's great doubt. 
 
 And so to-day the sun shines on 
 Lovely old BurHngton, 
 Quaker, Papist — all of the creeds 
 Who live sowing the seeds 
 
Of righteousness and love of God ; 
 Walking the path where trod 
 The humble Christ, whose daily plan 
 Was love for God and man. 
 
 Life. 
 
 Life has its pain as well as its pleasure, 
 Fate heaps them both with brimming full 
 
 measure ; 
 She garners the one with beautiful flowers, 
 The other sprays with bitter salt showers. 
 
 The Two Crowns. 
 
 However far aside we stray. 
 There ever standeth near 
 
 The love that passes not away, 
 But daily grows more dear. 
 
 We pass along life's troubled way, 
 
 And grievous burdens bear; 
 
 Yet some will wear the crown of bay, 
 
 i\.nd some the thorns will tear. 
 29 
 
The Duke of Clarence. 
 
 It seemeth strange I cannot rest to-day. 
 My flesh is loosening from its wonted 
 
 place ; 
 My shrivelled hands, my hollow-cheeked 
 face, 
 All seem to feel. My voice doth seem to 
 
 say. 
 What means this sun ray in my tomb at 
 play, 
 Glistening like a bride's veil in this place ? 
 And there its shadow throws the bishop's 
 mace. 
 What is there that disturbs my rotten clay? 
 
 It is the plaudits of the thronging crowd. 
 
 Some wedding of great state is going on ; 
 But it is far away, and I am here 
 To hark the echoes of the murmurs loud. 
 
 This tomb is very damp. The dark and 
 dawn 
 Are all alike within this silence drear. 
 
 Royal Art Gallery, 
 
 London, July 8, 1893. 
 
 30 
 
The Duke of York. 
 
 A FUTURE king and queen are wed to-day. 
 
 In royal pomp and state they gaily ride : 
 
 The Duke of York doth wed his brother's 
 
 bride, 
 
 The gloomy walls of old St. James are gay. 
 
 For royalty and fashion there display 
 
 Their names and faces with the ancient 
 
 pride 
 Of British land the sun doth not divide, 
 And in their Duke of York and Princess 
 May. 
 
 "The kingdoms of this world pass swift 
 away" 
 Is shrined in the old abbey's wondrous 
 gloom. 
 
 In years gone by other pageants as grand 
 
 As this that passing wends the Strand to- 
 day 
 Are now gathered in silence of some 
 room, 
 
 Perhaps died exiles from their native land. 
 
 31 
 
Victoria. 
 
 The Queen is dead ! the Queen is dead ! 
 Step soft and low and bow the head. 
 A noble mother of all lands — 
 Of England's shores and India's sands. 
 
 The sunshine of another light 
 Than that we know is on her brow ; 
 The glow of heavenly light 
 And cheer will never leave her now. 
 
 She rests at peace with man and God. 
 Step softly where her footsteps trod. 
 A gracious queen, a woman, yet 
 One whose reign the world will ne'er forget. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 32