The Boy Enlists Poem by Edgar Albert Guest

His mother's eyes are saddened, and her cheeks
are stained with tears,
And I'm facing now the struggle that I've
dreaded through the years;
For the boy that was our baby has been changed
into a man.
He's enlisted in the army as a true American.

He held her for a moment in his arms before
he spoke,
And I watched him as he kissed her, and it
seemed to me I'd choke,
For I knew just what was coming, and I knew
just what he'd done!
'Another little mother had a soldier for a son.

When we'd pulled ourselves together, and the
first quick tears had dried,
We could see his eyes were blazing with the fire
of manly pride;
We could see his head was higher than it ever
was before,
For we had a man to cherish, and our baby was
no more.

Oh, I don't know how to say it! With the sorrow
comes the joy
That there isn't any coward in the make-up of
our boy.
And with pride our hearts are swelling, though
with grief they're also hit,
For the boy that was our baby has stepped
forth to do his bit,