History & Politics

The Marching Song of Stark's Men

by Edward Everett Hale 1822–1909

From Poems of American History (1908)

History & Politics

March! March! March! from sunrise till it's dark,
And let no man straggle on the way!
March! March! March! as we follow old John Stark,
For the old man needs us all to-day.

Load! Load! Load! Three buckshot and a ball,
With a hymn-tune for a wad to make them stay!
But let no man dare to fire till he gives the word to all,
Let no man let the buckshot go astray.

Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire all along the line,
When we meet those bloody Hessians in array!
They shall have every grain from this powder-horn of mine,
Unless the cowards turn and run away.

Home! Home! Home! When the fight is fought and won,
To the home where the women watch and pray!
To tell them how John Stark finished what he had begun,
And to hear them thank our God for the day.

MLA

Hale, Edward Everett. “The Marching Song of Stark's Men.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hale_ee/7/.

Chicago

Hale, Edward Everett. “The Marching Song of Stark's Men.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hale_ee/7/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Edward Everett Hale