Explore "The Stevedores" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
We are the army stevedores, lusty and virile and strong, / We are given the hardest work of the war, and the hours are long. / We handle the heavy boxes, and shovel the dirty coal; / While soldiers and sailors work in the light, we burrow below like a / mole. / But somebody has to do this work, or the soldiers could not fight! / And whatever work is given a man, is good if he does it right.
We are the army stevedores, and we are volunteers. / We did not wait for the draft to come, to put aside our fears; / We flung them away on the winds of fate, at the very first call of our / land, / And each of us offered a willing heart and the strength of a brawny / hand. / We are the army stevedores, and work as we must and may, / The cross of honour will never be ours to proudly wear away.
But the men at the Front could never be there, / And the battles could not be won, / If the stevedores stopped in their dull routine / And left their work undone. / Somebody has to do this work; be glad that it isn't you! / We are the army stevedores-give us our due!