WHO FOLLOW 
 THE FLAG 
 
 HENRY 
 VANDYKE 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
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WHO FOLLOW THE FLAG 
 
WHO FOLLOW THE FLAG 
 
 PHI BETA KAPPA POEM 
 
 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
 
 JUNE I9IO 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY VAN DYKE 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 NEW YORK - - MCMXI 
 
^<h 
 
 
 Copyright, ipn, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Published May, 191 1 
 
 ©CLA280435 
 
WHO FOLLOW THE FLAG 
 
WHO FOLLOW THE FLAG 
 
 All day long in the city's canyon-street, 
 With its populous cliffs alive on either side, 
 I saw a river of marching men like a tide 
 Flowing after the flag: and the rhythmic beat 
 Of the drums, and the bugles' resonant blare 
 Metred the tramp, tramp, tramp of a myriad 
 
 feet, 
 While the red-white-and-blue was fluttering 
 
 everywhere, 
 And the heart of the crowd kept time to a 
 
 martial air : 
 
 O brave flag, bright flag, flag to lead the free! 
 The glory of thy silver stars, 
 ILngrailed in blue above the bars 
 Of red for courage, white for truth, 
 Have brought the world a second youth 
 
 And drawn a hundred million hearts to follow 
 after thee. 
 
 I 
 
II 
 
 Old Cambridge saw thee first unfurled, 
 By Washington's far-reaching hand, 
 To greet, in Seventy-six, the wintry morn 
 Of a new year, and herald to the world 
 Glad tidings from a Western land, — 
 A people and a hope new-born! 
 The double cross then filled thine azure field, 
 In token of a spirit loath to yield 
 The breaking ties that bound thee to a throne. 
 But not for long thine oriflamme could bear 
 That symbol of an outworn trust in kings. 
 The wind that bore thee out on widening wings 
 Called for a greater sign and all thine own, — 
 A new device to speak of heavenly laws 
 And lights that surely guide the people's cause. 
 Oh, greatly did they hope, and greatly dare, 
 Who bade the stars in heaven fight for them, 
 And set upon their battle-flag a fair 
 New constellation as a diadem! 
 Along the blood-stained banks of Brandywine 
 The ragged regiments were rallied to this sign; 
 
 2 
 
Through Saratoga's woods it fluttered bright 
 
 Amid the perils of the hard-won fight; 
 
 O'er Yorktown's meadows broad and green 
 
 It hailed the glory of the final scene; 
 
 And when at length Manhattan saw 
 
 The last invaders' line of scarlet coats 
 
 Pass Bowling Green, and fill the waiting boats, 
 
 And sullenly withdraw, 
 
 The flag that proudly flew 
 
 Above the battered line of buff and blue, 
 
 Marching, with rattling drums and shrilling 
 
 pipes, 
 Along the Bowery and down Broadway, 
 Was this that leads the great parade to-day,— 
 The glorious banner of the stars and stripes. 
 
 First of the flags of earth to dare 
 
 A heraldry so high; 
 First of the flags of earth to bear 
 
 The blazons of the sky; 
 Long may thy constellation glow. 
 
 Foretelling happy fate ; 
 Wider thy starry circle grow, — 
 
 And every star a State/ 
 
Ill 
 
 Pass on, pass on, ye flashing files 
 Of men who march in militant array; 
 Ye thrilling bugles, throbbing drums, 
 Ring out, roll on, and die away; 
 And fade, ye crowds, with the fading day! 
 Around the city's lofty piles 
 Of steel and stone 
 The lilac veil of dusk is thrown, 
 Entangled full of sparks of fairy light; 
 And the never-silent heart of the city hums 
 To a homeward-turning tune before the night. 
 But far above, on the sky-line's broken height, 
 From all the towers and domes outlined 
 In gray and gold along the city's crest, 
 I see the rippling flag still take the wind 
 With a promise of coming good for all man- 
 kind. 
 
IV 
 
 O banner of the West, 
 
 No proud and brief parade, 
 
 That glorifies a nation's holiday 
 
 With show of troops for warfare dressed 
 
 Can rightly measure or display 
 
 The mighty army thou hast made 
 
 Loyal to guard thy more than royal sway. 
 
 Millions have come across the sea 
 
 To find beneath thy shelter room to grow; 
 
 Millions were born beneath thy folds and 
 
 know 
 No other flag but thee; 
 And other, darker millions bore the yoke 
 Of bondage in thy borders till the voice 
 Of Lincoln spoke, 
 
 And sent thee forth to set the bondmen free. 
 Rejoice, dear flag, rejoice ! 
 Since thou hast proved and passed that bitter 
 
 strife, 
 
 5 
 
Richer thy red with blood of heroes wet, 
 
 Purer thy white through sacrificial life, 
 
 Brighter thy blue wherein new stars are set! 
 
 Thou art become a sign, 
 
 Revealed in heaven to speak of things divine : 
 
 Of Truth that dares 
 
 To slay the lie it sheltered unawares ; 
 
 Of Courage fearless in the fight, 
 
 Yet ever quick its foemen to forgive ; 
 
 Of Conscience earnest to maintain its right 
 
 And gladly grant the same to all who live. 
 
 Thy staff is deeply planted in the fact 
 
 That nothing can ennoble man 
 
 Save his own act, 
 
 And naught can make him worthy to be free 
 
 But practice in the school of liberty. 
 
 The cords are two that lift thee to the sky: 
 
 Firm faith in God, the King who rules on 
 
 high; 
 And never-failing trust 
 In human nature, full of faults and flaws, 
 Yet ever-answering to the inward call 
 That bids it set the ( ( ought ' ' above the c ' must ' ' ; 
 In all its errors wiser than it seems, 
 In all its failures full of generous dreams, 
 
 6 
 
Through endless conflict rising without pause 
 To self-dominion, charactered in laws 
 That pledge fair-play alike to great and small, 
 And equal rights for each beneath the rule 
 
 of all. 
 These are thy halyards, banner bold, 
 And while these hold, 
 
 Thy brightness from the sky shall never fall, 
 Thy broadening empire never knowdecrease,— 
 Thy strength is union and thy glory peace. 
 
Look forth across thy widespread lands, 
 O flag, and let thy stars to-night be eyes 
 To see the visionary hosts 
 Of men and women grateful to be thine, 
 That joyfully arise 
 From all thy borders and thy coasts, 
 And follow after thee in endless line ! 
 They lift to thee a forest of saluting hands; 
 They hail thee with a rolling ocean-roar 
 Of cheers; and as the echo dies, 
 There comes a sweet and moving song 
 Of treble voices from the childish throng 
 Who run to thee from every school-house door. 
 Behold thine army! Here thy power lies: 
 The men whom freedom has made strong, 
 And bound to follow thee by willing vows ; 
 The women greatened by the joys 
 Of motherhood to rule a happy house; 
 The vigorous girls and boys, 
 
 8 
 
Whose eager faces and unclouded brows 
 
 Foretell the future of a noble race, 
 
 Rich in the wealth of wisdom and true worth ! 
 
 While millions such as these to thee belong, 
 
 What foe can do thee wrong, 
 
 What jealous rival rob thee of thy place 
 
 Foremost of all the flags of earth? 
 
VI 
 
 My vision darkens as the night descends ; 
 And through the mystic atmosphere 
 I feel the creeping coldness that portends 
 A change of spirit in my dream. 
 The multitude that moved with song and cheer 
 Have vanished, yet a living stream 
 Flows on and follows still the flag, 
 But silent now, with leaden feet that lag 
 And falter in the deepening gloom, — 
 A weird battalion bringing up the rear. 
 Ah, who are these on whom the vital bloom 
 Of life has withered to the dust of doom? 
 These little pilgrims prematurely worn 
 And bent as if they bore the weight of years? 
 These childish faces, pallid and forlorn, 
 Too dull for laughter and too hard for tears? 
 Is this the ghost of that insane crusade 
 That led ten thousand children long ago, 
 A flock of innocents, deceived, betrayed, 
 
 10 
 
Yet pressing on through want and woe 
 To meet their fate, faithful and unafraid? 
 Nay, for a million children now 
 Are marching in the long pathetic line, 
 With weary step and early wrinkled brow; 
 And at their head appears no holy sign 
 Of hope in heaven ; 
 For unto them is given 
 No cross to carry, but a cross to drag. 
 Before their strength is ripe they bear 
 The load of labour, toiling underground 
 In dangerous mines and breathing heavy air 
 Of crowded shops ; their tender lives are bound 
 To service of the whirling, clattering wheels 
 That fill the factories with dust and noise ; 
 They are not girls and boys, 
 But little "hands" who blindly, dumbly feed 
 With their own blood the hungry god of Greed. 
 Robbed of their natural joys, 
 And wounded with a scar that never heals, 
 They stumble on with heavy-laden soul, 
 And fall by thousands on the highway lined 
 With little graves, or reach at last their goal 
 Of stunted manhood and embittered age, 
 To brood awhile with dark and troubled mind, 
 
 ii 
 
Beside the smouldering fire of sullen rage, 
 On life's unfruitful work and niggard wage. 
 Are these the regiments that Freedom rears 
 To serve her cause in coming years? 
 Nay, every life that Avarice doth maim 
 And beggar in the helpless days of youth, 
 Shall surely claim 
 
 A just revenge, and take it without ruth; 
 And every soul denied the right to grow 
 Beneath the flag, shall be its secret foe. 
 Bow down, dear land, in penitence and shame! 
 Remember now thine oath, so nobly sworn, 
 To guard an equal lot 
 For every child within thy borders born : 
 These are thy children whom thou hast forgotl 
 They have the bitter right to live, but not 
 The blessed right to look for happiness. 
 O lift thy liberating hand once more, 
 To loose thy little ones from dark duress ; 
 The vital gladness to their hearts restore 
 In healthful lessons and in happy play; 
 And set them free to climb the upward way 
 That leads to self-reliant nobleness. 
 Speak out, my country, speak at last, 
 As thou hast spoken in the past, 
 
 12 
 
And clearly, bravely say: 
 
 My power shall defend 
 
 The coming race on whom my hopes depend: 
 
 Henceforward on my sacred soil 
 
 No child shall bear the crushing yoke of toil. 
 
 13 
 
VII 
 
 Look up, look up, ye downcast eyes! 
 The night is almost gone : 
 Along the new horizon flies 
 The banner of the dawn; 
 The eastern sky is banded low 
 With white and crimson bars, 
 And far above the morning glow 
 The everlasting stars. 
 
 bright flag, O brave flag, O flag to lead the free! 
 The hand of God thy colours blent, 
 And heaven to earth thy glory lent, 
 To shield the weak, and guide the strong 
 To make an end of human wrong, 
 
 And draw a countless human host to follow after 
 thee! 
 
 H 
 
jUH 3 "»» 
 
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