They have said you needn't go to the front to face the foe; <br />They have left you with your women and your children safe at home; <br />They have spared you from the crash of the murderous guns that flash <br />And the horrors and the madness and the death across the foam. <br />But it's your fight, just the same, and your country still must claim <br />The splendor of your manhood and the best that you can do; <br />In a thousand different ways through the dark and troubled days, <br />You must stand behind the nation that has been so good to you. <br /> <br />You're exempt from shot and shell, from the havoc and the hell <br />That have robbed the world of gladness; you have missed the sterner fate <br />Of the brave young men and fine, that are falling into line, <br />You may stay among your children who are swinging on the gate. <br />But you're not exempt from love of the Flag that flies above, <br />You've a greater obligation to your country to be true; <br />You must work from day to day in a bigger, better way <br />For the glory of the nation that has been so good to you. <br /> <br />You are not exempt from trial, from long days of self-denial, <br />From devotion to your homeland and from courage in the test. <br />You are not exempt from giving to your country's needs and living <br />As a citizen and soldier—an example of the best. <br />You've a harder task before you than the boys who're fighting for you, <br />You must match their splendid courage and devotion through and through; <br />You must prove by fine endeavor, and by standing constant ever <br />That you're worthy of the country that has been so good to you.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/exempt/
