Explore "Part of the Battle" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
There is a moment when with splendid joy, / With flashing blade and roar of thundering guns / And colors waving wide where triumph stands, / The last redoubt is carried; we have won! / This is the battle! We have conquered now!
But the long hours of marching in the sun, / The longer hours of waiting in the dark, / Deadly dishonored work of hidden spy, / The dull details of commissariat, / Food, clothing, medicine, the hospital, / The way the transportation mules are fed,- / These are the battle too, and victory's price.
And we, in days when no attack is feared / And none is hoped,-no sudden courage called,- / Should strengthen our intrenchments quietly, / Review the forces, exercise the troops, / Feeling the while, not "When will battle come? " / But, "This is battle! We are conquering now! "