Poems (Clark)/Throwing the Shoe
THROWING THE SHOE
We stood 'mid the sunset's glories, And our words were brief and few,Though ever nearer and nearer Drifted onward a sad adieu.We, to be left in the quiet Of home to watch and pray;He, to stand up for the starry flag, In the Union ranks far away.
We knew the cause was a good one, That the hand which led was the Lord's;Yet the tears would come unbidden, And our thoughts took a depth beyond words;With a glimpse of the dread and the waiting In the days that must surely come,When fear should walk beside our hope Of saying a "Welcome home."
But there throbbed one heart, whose loving Had trust and bravery too,And she deemed it a sin that our soldier, Should have only a tearful adieu;So she said, as she glanced around her On faces sad and pale,"I'll bring you good luck with an olden spell That never was known to fail."
We smiled, though our hearts were aching, And we craved, may the spell prove true,When, the "Good-byes" all said, and he left us, She threw "for good luck," her shoe.And we garnered close as a token, To cheer our hearts the while,When from under the shading maples, Our soldier looked back with a smile.
And when with a jubilant brightness July was with us again,Though we lost a tithe of her glory In the shadow of War's dread pain,We found the God of the battle Was better to us than our fears,As we welcomed him in gladness We had sent away in tears.
And we said, with thankful rejoicing, That the olden spell was true,And we never would doubt the magic, That lay in a half-worn shoe;And ever, as oft as he left us, As oft as we said "Adieu,"Though we placed our trust in God alone, Still, we threw for "good luck," a shoe.