New-York tribune., 1919-12-13
Verse Of the A. E. r.
Yanks Shows Sort of Poetry Which
lhe Doughboys Wrote During the War

HANKs. A collection OF verse from ..rn.
Na,r Mars v ana Stripes" g. II. Putnam's Sons
source book Of A. E. F. emotion =.
s.W sVe very apt and just description Of
+s +s"nks, book of verse selected from
.ne column which used to appear eyerv
SS.eM Stan on the editorial page of "The
@lH ;Iw - ana otripes. That column, cas-
tE ty ene most thoroughly read part of
the famous soldiers' rewspaner waa
Sa,ied .a1 The Army's Poets" and it was
rn rtaue up OF the weeks grist of poetry
poured IN from every division and
camp and lone detachment Of America
overseas. A small paper bound edition
" tne collection was used in France
snoreiy after the armistice, and now
zones zones the American edition from G. P.
;,;.r usnams Sons, handsome, elaborate.
ttl.us'rated taus by color plates from the
oh;o 1;. OF baldridge's drawings, but
cnieny interesting because it's roval-
ties are dedicated to those half FORGOT
ten wards of the overseas YankNthe
more than 5000 French kids who.
through one desperate and anxious
year, were the mascots of American
outfits in France. '~""
Out Of their own O. D. pockets tho
american soldiers shelled more than
1'ooo.000 francs for the care of these
youngsters. and into the Continuation
Tund. which is still administered under
hed Gross supervision in Paris. addi->
tlonal gifts keep coming from those
interests of this work that the Amer
lcan edition of "Yanks" was authorized
ana the presses are turning now to de-
liver few advance thousands for the
Christmas trade.
IN these poems, rough and sweaty
as many of them are, you will find the
true accent of the A. t. F. The origi-
nal manuscripts were funny mess of
scrap paper-now we'll typed verse
from some company clerk, now a dirty
nlt OF Y. M. c. A. stationery with
Joyce Kilmer's "The Wood Called
Rouge Bouquet" for instance, was
copied from notebook to notebook till
nearly every man in his regiment had
it on him and finally one of there
stray copies reached "The Stars and
Stripes" where these verses, meant
for the music of taps, were first set
down in print.
One or two samples of the stuff in
"Yanks" will best describe the volume.
There is this one, by favorite lau-
lieutenant of the 26th Division, whose
father, Charles T. Dazey, wrote the
famous old play, "In Old Kentucky:
The Driver
I'm a slouch and slop and a suffer,
And my ears they are covered with hair,
And I frequent nhabit the guardhouse.
I'll be priv" until "hni la guerre."
But my off horse. she shines like countess,
And my nigh made the general blink
And they pull like twin bats fresh from
Hades
And they're quick as a dem -mondes
wink.
Oh it's often I'm late at formations,
And it's taps ! completely disdan,
And my bunk, it brings tears from the cap
tain,
And the cooties are at me again.
But when there's piece in the mire
With her muzze just trimming the muck
Then It's hustle for me and my beauties
If they don't they S. o. of luck.
I'm a slouch and Stop and a suffer,
And my ears they covered with hair,
And | frequent nhabit the guardhouse
I'll be priv" until 'fini Ia guerre."
But my hosses. they neigh when I'm comm
An my sarge knows how hefty they drag,
An the cap lent me ten francs this morn
Here's to him an to me an the flag
And there's this one, called "Camou-
fage":
They tell US tales of camoufage,
The art of hiding things:
or painted forts and powered guns
Invisible to wings.
Well, It's nothing to lis
To us, the rank and file.
We understand this camouhage-
We left home with smile.
We saw the painted batteships
And earthen colored trains.