| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1575. The Men behind the Guns |
| | | By John Jerome Rooney |
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| A CHEER and salute for the Admiral, and here ’s to the Captain bold, | |
| And never forget the Commodore’s debt when the deeds of might are told! | |
| They stand to the deck through the battle’s wreck when the great shells roar and screech— | |
| And never they fear when the foe is near to practice what they preach: | |
| But off with your hat and three times three for Columbia’s true-blue sons, | 5 |
| The men below who batter the foe—the men behind the guns! | |
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| Oh, light and merry of heart are they when they swing into port once more, | |
| When, with more than enough of the “green-backed stuff,” they start for their leave-o’-shore; | |
| And you’d think, perhaps, that the blue-bloused chaps who loll along the street | |
| Are a tender bit, with salt on it, for some fierce “mustache” to eat— | 10 |
| Some warrior bold, with straps of gold, who dazzles and fairly stuns | |
| The modest worth of the sailor boys—the lads who serve the guns. | |
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| But say not a word till the shot is heard that tells the fight is on, | |
| Till the long, deep roar grows more and more from the ships of “Yank” and “Don,” | |
| Till over the deep the tempests sweep of fire and bursting shell, | 15 |
| And the very air is a mad Despair in the throes of a living hell; | |
| Then down, deep down, in the mighty ship, unseen by the midday suns, | |
| You ’ll find the chaps who are giving the raps—the men behind the guns! | |
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| Oh, well they know the cyclones blow that they loose from their cloud of death, | |
| And they know is heard the thunder-word their fierce ten-incher saith! | 20 |
| The steel decks rock with the lighting shock, and shake with the great recoil, | |
| And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil— | |
| But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs, | |
| Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the guns! | |
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