Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE DOLLAR-A-YEAR MEN by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS

First Line: NOW A HEARTY AND VIGOROUS CHEER, MEN
Last Line: THE PATRIOT DOLLAR-A-YEAR MEN!
Subject(s): PATRIOTISM; WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;

Now a hearty and vigorous cheer, men,
For the patriot dollar-a-year men!
At a million, indeed,
In this time of need,
They wouldn't be costly or dear men.

These third-of-a-cent-a-day men
Have forgotten the meaning of play, men;
With all of their might
They are deep in the fight,
At work like an army of draymen.

They are brainy men, famous men, rich men,
Inventors and bankers and sich men;
They tug and they toil
In the sweat and the soil
Like desperate, valorous ditchmen.

They are leaders, the bosses, the key men,
At work without glory or fee, men,
Obscurely at work,
No slacker, no shirk,
That you and that I may be free men.

So a hearty, unanimous cheer, men,
For these generous, big volunteer men.
With grace and with grit
They are doing their bit,
The patriot dollar-a-year men!



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