Vachel Lindsay

From “Whimseys”

THE JAZZ-BIRD sings a barnyard song—

A cock-a-doodle bray,

A jingle-bells, a boiler works,

A he-man’s roundelay.

The eagle said, “My noisy son,

I send you out to fight!”

So the youngster spread his sunflower wings

And roared with all his might.

His headlight eyes went flashing

From Oregon to Maine;

And the land was dark with airships

In the darting Jazz-bird’s train.

Crossing the howling ocean,

His bell-mouth shook the sky;

And the Yankees in the trenches

Gave back the hue and cry.

And Europe had not heard the like—

And Germany went down!

The fowl of steel with clashing claws

Tore off the Kaiser’s crown.