De Rochambeau

On The Presentation Of An American Banner To Camp Rochambeau By The Marquise De Rochambeau At Tours, France, June 1, 1918

Here is a picture I carry away

On memory's wall.    A green June day,

A golden sun in an amethyst sky,

And a beautiful banner floating as high

As the lofty spires of the city of Tours,

And a slender Marquise, with a face as pure

As a sculptured saint:    while staunch and true

In new-world khaki and old-world blue,

Wearing their medals with modest pride,

Her stalwart bodyguard stand at her side.

Simple the picture; but much it may mean

To one who reads into and under the scene,

For there, in that opulent hour and weather,

Two great Republics came closer together;

A little nearer came land to land

Through the magical touch of a woman's hand.

And once again as in long ago

The grand old name of de Rochambeau

Shines forth like a star, for our world to see -

Our Land of the Brave, and our Home of the Free.