PORTO RICO. (continued 2)
Reading edition
[At this point, as by one impulse, every man in the room sprang to his feet and, led by General W.W. Dudley, gave three rousing cheers, while Mrs. Logan, with her beautiful white head bent low, vainly sought to staunch the fast-falling tears; the air was white with the sympathetic ’kerchiefs of the ladies, and the imposing figure of Clara Barton standing with uplifted arm, as if in signal for the cheers, so grandly given, completed the historic and never-to-be-forgotten scene.]
And these were the women who went to the war: The women of question; what did they go for? Because in their hearts God had planted the seed Of pity for woe, and help for its need; They saw, in high purpose, a duty to do, And the armor of right broke the barriers through. Uninvited, unaided, unsanctioned ofttimes, With pass, or without it, they pressed on the lines; They pressed, they implored, ’till they ran the lines through, And that was the “running” the men saw them do. ’Twas a hampered work, its worth largely lost; ’Twas hindrance, and pain, and effort, and cost: But through these came knowledge,— knowledge is power,— And never again in the deadliest hour Of war or of peace shall we be so beset To accomplish the purpose our spirits have met. And what would they do if war came again? The scarlet cross floats where all was blank then. They would bind on their “brassards”[F] and march to the fray. And the man liveth not who could say to them nay; They would stand with you now, as they stood with you then,— The nurses, consolers, and saviors of men.
Note.—Returning home from a journey, Miss Barton was notified in the afternoon that she would be expected to attend the banquet and respond to the toast, “The Women Who Went to the Field.” As there was little or no time for preparation, the foregoing poem was hastily written, and may almost be considered as impromptu.