{"id":14228,"date":"2022-04-01T01:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T06:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dotcw.com\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2021-07-08T00:26:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T05:26:48","slug":"a-rainy-day-in-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/a-rainy-day-in-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rainy Day in Camp."},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary had written a number of verses for the soldiers, and they had been printed as leaflets, each one floated over by the flag in red and blue, and distributed widely among the enlisted men. The first of these was<\/p>\n

A Rainy Day in Camp.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
It\u2019s a cheerless, lonesome evening,<\/span><\/div>\n
When the soaking, sodden ground<\/span><\/div>\n
Will not echo to the footfall<\/span><\/div>\n
Of the sentinel\u2019s dull round.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
God\u2019s blue star-spangled banner<\/span><\/div>\n
To-night is not unfurled;<\/span><\/div>\n
Surely He has not deserted<\/span><\/div>\n
This weary, warring world.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
I peer into the darkness,<\/span><\/div>\n
And the crowding fancies come:<\/span><\/div>\n
The night wind, blowing northward,<\/span><\/div>\n
Carries all my heart toward home.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
For I \u2018listed in this army<\/span><\/div>\n
Not exactly to my mind;<\/span><\/div>\n
But my country called for helpers,<\/span><\/div>\n
And I couldn\u2019t stay behind.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
So, I\u2019ve had a sight of drilling,<\/span><\/div>\n
And have roughed it many ways,<\/span><\/div>\n
And death has nearly had me;-<\/span><\/div>\n
Yet I think the service pays.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
It\u2019s a blessed sort of feeling\u2013<\/span><\/div>\n
Whether you live or die\u2013<\/span><\/div>\n
You helped your country in her need,<\/span><\/div>\n
And fought right loyally.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
But I can\u2019t help thinking sometimes,<\/span><\/div>\n
When a wet day\u2019s leisure comes,<\/span><\/div>\n
And I hear the old home voices<\/span><\/div>\n
Talking louder than the drums,\u2013<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And the far, familiar faces<\/span><\/div>\n
Peep in at my tent door,<\/span><\/div>\n
And the little children\u2019s footsteps<\/span><\/div>\n
Go pit-pat on the floor,\u2013<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
I can\u2019t help thinking, somehow,<\/span><\/div>\n
Of all the parson reads<\/span><\/div>\n
About that other soldier-life<\/span><\/div>\n
Which every true man leads.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And wife, soft-hearted creature,<\/span><\/div>\n
Seems a-saying in my ear,<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019d rather have you in those ranks<\/span><\/div>\n
Than to see you brigadier.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
I call myself a brave one,<\/span><\/div>\n
But in my heart I lie!<\/span><\/div>\n
For my country, and her honor,<\/span><\/div>\n
I am fiercely free to die;<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
But when the Lord, who bought me,<\/span><\/div>\n
Asks for my service here<\/span><\/div>\n
To \u201cfight the good fight\u201d faithfully,<\/span><\/div>\n
I\u2019m skulking in the rear.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And yet I know this Captain<\/span><\/div>\n
All love and care to be:<\/span><\/div>\n
He would never get impatient<\/span><\/div>\n
With a raw recruit like me.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And I know he\u2019d not forget me;<\/span><\/div>\n
When the day of peace appears,<\/span><\/div>\n
I should share with Him the victory<\/span><\/div>\n
Of all His volunteers.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And it\u2019s kind of cheerful, thinking,<\/span><\/div>\n
Beside the dull tent fire,<\/span><\/div>\n
About that big promotion,<\/span><\/div>\n
When He says, \u201c Come up higher.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And though it\u2019s dismal\u2013rainy-<\/span><\/div>\n
Even now, with thoughts of Him,<\/span><\/div>\n
Camp life looks extra cheery,<\/span><\/div>\n
And death a deal less grim.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
For I seem to see Him waiting,<\/span><\/div>\n
Where a gathered heaven greets<\/span><\/div>\n
A great victorious army,<\/span><\/div>\n
Marching up the golden streets.<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
And I hear Him read the roll-call,<\/span><\/div>\n
And my heart is all a-flame,<\/span><\/div>\n
When the dear, recording angel<\/span><\/div>\n
Writes down my happy name!<\/span><\/div>\n
.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u2013But my fire is dead white ashes,<\/span><\/div>\n
And the tent is chilling cold,<\/span><\/div>\n
And I\u2019m playing win the battle,<\/span><\/div>\n
When I\u2019ve never been enrolled!<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary had written a number of verses for the soldiers, and they had been printed as leaflets, each one floated over by the flag in red and blue, and distributed widely among the enlisted men. The first of these was A Rainy Day in Camp. . It\u2019s a cheerless, lonesome evening, When the soaking, sodden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":69153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-letters-of-a-family-during-the-war-for-the-union"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mary-Elizabeth-Watts-Woolsey-Howland.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}