Marching Men

by Sherwood Anderson

Book VI: Chapter V

In all of the time of The Marching Men there was but one bit of written matter from the leader McGregor. It had a circulation running into the millions and was printed in every tongue spoken in America. A copy of the little circular lies before me now.

THE MARCHERS

   "They ask us what we mean.
   Well, here is our answer.
   We mean to go on marching.
   We mean to march in the morning and in the evening when the sun
      goes down.
   On Sundays they may sit on their porches or shout at men playing
      ball in a field
   But we will march.
   On the hard cobblestones of the city streets and through the dust
      of country roads we will march.
   Our legs may be weary and our throats hot and dry,
   But still we will march, shoulder to shoulder.
   We will march until the ground shakes and tall buildings tremble.
   Shoulder to shoulder we will go--all of us--
   On and on forever.
   We will not talk nor listen to talk.
   We will march and we will teach our sons and our daughters to
      march.
   Their minds are troubled. Our minds are clear.
   We do not think and banter words.
   We march.
   Our faces are coarse and there is dust in our hair and beards.
   See, the inner parts of our hands are rough.
   And still we march--we the workers."
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