3They Never Warned Me
They never warned me
That I would have
Two hundred sons
And brothers
They never warned me
That my true brother would be
One of Them
They never warned me
That the dead assist us
The walls we build of them
Can shelter us
They never warned me
That on a dusty morning
Far from my home
Or theirs
I would receive
One hundred fifty new sons
They never warned me
About the long
Marches
Days
Of walking
The first thousand miles
Were the killers
They never warned me
That we would be the flank
They never warned me
To be careful fillings holes in the line
They never warned me
To never forget the textbooks
They never warned me
And
They never warned me
That in the midst of July's stifling penance
I would lead.
They never warned me
That the Country's falling hopes
Would fall upon my shoulders
That the future would watch me as I stretched my arm out down the hill
And shouted a command that would ring
Ring across the rolling green of Pennsylvania
Ring across the valleys of Virginia
Ring across the mountains of New York
Ring across the green hills of Vermont and New Hampshire
Ring against the rocky cliffs of Maine
They never warned me
That my cry would
Inspire a nation
That one act of courage
Could change our destiny
They never warned me
That a country would stand
Because we stumbled
They never warned me
That heroes are made of plain fabric
Just
With a more complicated print.
They never warned me
That chivalry is not dead
That watching death
Can be beautiful
Glorious and painful
The one thing you want to destroy
Comes marching toward you
Across that glorious field of fire
They charge valiantly
A beautiful sight
How do you destroy something so breathtaking?
You butcher them valiantly
They crawl away
And you do not pursue them
It is enough
They never warned me
That we could win
And feel so beat
Be so tired
They never warned me
That I could change the tides
That I was strong enough to carry the country
They never warned me.
And I never warned them
That I would lead them to greatness.
Based on The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Point of view of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.