Poems (Kennedy)/When The Bugles Blow
WHEN THE BUGLES BLOW
WHAT do you hear when the bugles blow— When the bugles blow?Is it only a thread of silver soundOut of the throat of the silence wound,Waking an echo's far rebound That throbs when the bugles blow?
Is that what you catch when the bugles blow— When the bugles blow?Or is it a long dead warrior's cry,Filling the cup of the hollow sky,Bidding you follow the flag and die In Freedom's van when the bugles blow?
That is the call that stirs the soul When the bugles blow.For high on the heights of destiny,With promise of immortality,The voice of a wingéd Victory Sings clear when the bugles blow.
And we spring to follow the unfurled flag When the bugles blow—Follow it far, where our comrades fell—Follow through red of the battle's swell—Follow it up to the gates of hell— Storming its depths—when the bugles blow.