The Kid has gone to the Colors
W.M. Herschell
1873 to 1943
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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The Kid we have loved and cuddled
But now he's a man, a soldier,
It seems but a little while
For his heart is a heart all loyal,
And God, we're proud of the boy!
To add his name to the roster—
The Kid has gone to the Colors;
Since he drilled a schoolboy army
And the Kid has heard the call.
Stood forth with patriot-joy
And thought that it whispered: "Come!"
But he whose old shoulders straightened
His mother—God bless her!—cried;
With never a care at all,
And we don't know what to say;
His dad, when he told him, shuddered,
Stepped out for the Flag to-day.
The Kid has gone to the Colors
He paused to watch the recruiting,
In a truly martial style,
She wept with a mother-pride,
Yet, blest with a mother-nature,
To years when he, too, a youngster,
The Kid, not being a slacker,
And we lend him a listening ear,
We thought him a child, a baby
He bowed his head to Old Glory
Where, fired by the fife and drum,
But his country called him man-size
Unscourged by the curse of fear.
Was Granddad—for memory ran
Was changed by the Flag to a man!