THE AWAKENING.
Ere our lesson to the Kaiser,
Self-anointed Lord of Earth,
Left that furious monarch wiser
Re our troops' intrinsic worth,
Frankly, I had thought you flighty,
Callous to the very core;
Lovely?—yes, like Aphrodite;
Nothing more.
Later, when you slaked your thirsting
For an apron, cuffs and cap,
Long before the war-cloud, bursting,
Made a mess of Europe's map,
Though your mind showed some improvement,
Lady, I conceived you had
Joined a purely social movement
For a fad.
Now the scales at length uplifted
From my eyes in you reveal,
Verily, a woman gifted
With the power to help and heal.
So I send, for shame, these verses
Where you brave the battle's brunt,
One of England's noble Nurses
At the front.