Work-a-day Warriors/Ancestry

by Joseph Lee

ANCESTRY

I am one with my fleet-foot forebear,
skin-clad, with his flint-head spear;
I am one with the savage tribesman,
with his bow-string taut to his ear;
I am one with them in their courage;
one with them in their fear:
As I lie out here, with dead men near
In this Listening-Post with my gun
They and I are One!

I am one with the ancient Roman,
pressing on in his grim phalanx;
I am one with the Spartan, the Trojan,
and the Grecian's steel-clad ranks;
They with their Horse, Heaven-sent,
and I with my earth-born "tanks";

Illustration by Joseph Lee from 'Work-a-day Warriors' by Joseph Lee, published in 1917

"TANK" IN ACTION

As I move to attack, with my kit on my back,
And my bombs and my steel-tipped gun,
They and I are One!

I am one with the cohorts of Cæsar;
with the hosts of Hannibal;
With the legions of all the leaders
to the last "Petit Caporal";
One with the millions of nameless dead,
who have fallen as soldiers fall:
As I crawl through the breach in the battered wall,
Or charge at the run with my gun,
They and I are One!