Life, 1918-10-17 · page 12 of 38
Life — October 17, 1918 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a patriotic poem by Clement Wood celebrating American industrial and geographic power during what appears to be the World War I era. The verse invokes the Statue of Liberty and catalogs America's natural resources—wheat, cotton, iron, steel—and geographic features—mountains, rivers, lakes—as forces "marching" toward victory. The accompanying illustrations show domestic scenes: military personnel and civilians in discussion, and a woman in an interior setting. These appear designed to reinforce the poem's message of unified national mobilization, showing both military and civilian commitment to the war effort. The text emphasizes America as a unified continental force, with natural resources and geographic grandeur supporting military strength. It's patriotic propaganda dressed as poetry.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: I See America Marching 1 arching : | SEE America es her khakied thousands Over the perilous wa flood; Over the bloodied Atlantic the steady drive of her fleets, And through the swirling air the whir of her clouds I see America marching Wheat from the stubborn soil of the North, cotton snow from the South, iron a steel from the Lakes and the glinting miles of mountains, Sugar and meat, timber and coal, powder and stecl-wrought rails, The army at home, with lengthening arm, smashing unend- ing blows. Wa 1 see America marching This is no war of armies, nor even of nations. Behold !—a con t—America!—hurls itself over the sea- way To crush the hateful tyranny of the squat Teutonic land. For following the khakied line and the driving fleets, Katahdin lifts an awakened head, and summons his brothers to follow— \n army of mountains marching to battle! Mount Washington comes, Mount Mitchell wakes, Bald Head and Round Top answer the call, Pike's Peak and Massive Mountain trumpet over the plain, Rainier and Whitney, Shasta and Hood advance to the on- slaught, And Mount Mekinley leads frozen Alaska to the charge. at Hunnish summits cower! Zugspitze and Schineckoppe flatten, Altvater and Arber flee Brocken and Vogelsberg scream horribly as the Adiron dacks and Rockies surge upon them How the ‘The rivers wind upon the ioe— The mighty Father of Waters drowns the puny Khine, Yukon and Colorado, Rio Grande and the Hudson, flood over the fleeing Elbe and Danube. The Great Lakes rage over the lowlands And the mighty land, three million of mighty miles Plunges upon the desperate Deutsehland’s two hundres thousand, Until it yields 10 the continent singing of liberty, And the people's rule buds and blossoms over the blood drenched earth IV I see America marching : Mountain and river, lake and prairic, marching under the white stars of blue heaven, Through a continent's red-barred agony . To win the white goal, the peace of the people's vision! Clement Wood. poy Mill: He (joyously) : She: ONE MOMENT. PERMISSION FROM THE FEDERAL, STATE AND MUNICIPAL KI ADMINISTRATORS. NOW THAT YOU HAVE ACCEPTED ME— WE SHALL FIRST HAVE TO OBTAIN