________________________________________________
Title: Queen Of May
Author: W. E. Christian [
More Titles by Christian]
If you wake, why, call me early--call me early, won't you, bunk?
The captain says I'll be a non-com., if I don't get on a drunk.
Then some day I'll be a sergeant with three stripes upon my arm,
Zig zag, like the old rail fences on Dad Posey's Country farm.
Call me early, though I'm dreaming, wake me up that I may see
How the sun that sinks in grandeur rises in obscurity.
I've been a private, bunkie, such as privates seldom are,
Borne my share of public censure, let it heal without a scar.
Till upon the fair escutcheon of my name and humble rank
Captain says he'll add the title and a stripe on either flank.
Then I'll be a non-com., bunkie, wake me up that I may see
My own glory bubble appearing, hear it burst at reveille.
Wake me early from my slumbers, henceforth I would early rise,
Health and wealth are common virtues--dawn will brand me both, and wise.
Bunkie, I'll be boss tomorrow, uniformed in blue and white,
Knew I'd get it, if the captain only did what's square and right.
But I will not chastise the comrades who may doubt my word is law,
I'll be easy with them, bunkie, patient, 'tho they feel no awe.
Bunkie, I'm growing sleepy; wake me when the morning breaks;
For upon the track of merit, I will land the non-com. stakes.
Let me hear the joyful clamor when I wake from pleasant dreams
That the fellows rise when greeting a noncom., who is what he seems.
Wake me early, bunkie, comrade, tell the fellows who I am,
Not forgetting all the favors I will do you when I can.
Tell them that I wouldn't have it, if it sacrificed their love,
Tell them that I'm the same as ever, though they think me far above.
Bunkie, I have dreamed so often of the buff that I shall wear,
That I feel the honor greater than a man like me can bear.
Long I've waited; long I've cherished thoughts of how I'd look and feel
When the captain said: Howard, here's a stripe to aid your zeal.
Then I'd be a non-com., bunkies, then I'd write to dad and say,
Modest-like: "A Corporal's greetings to his folks so far away!"
[The end]
W. E. Christian's poem: Queen Of May
________________________________________________
GO TO TOP OF SCREEN
