She was no soldier brave
In search of wild adventurings,
Or desert lands to save !
She was a woman who had dreamed
Of children and a home ;
It lay---her child---on bleaching plain,
Beneath a pile of stone.
On, on the wagon creeps apace ;
Her staring eyes a tale
Of tragedy so great no pen
Can paint her soul's travail.
The stirring stories told of men
Who fought and won new land
From its primeval enemies,
Forget that in that band
Were women torn by pain and grief,
Who stood staunch by man's side
Upheld by naught that spurred him on,
Adventure---conquest---pride.
A woman's way, to long for peace---
A man's, to long for war ;
A woman's lot, to sacrifice
For man, the conqueror.
The woman in the wagon fought
Her silent fight alone ;
The grim renunciation of
Her people---children---home.
Oh pioneers, you valiant men !
Would you have stood the test---
Without the women in the wagon,
Would you have won the West ?
--Clyde Robertson
J. Roberts Foster 1925 International prize ballad. Poetry Review (London). From Evenings with Colorado Poets: An Anthology of Colorado Verse. Compiled and Edited by Francis S. Kinder, and F. Clarence Spencer. Third Edition (Revised). The World Press, Inc., Denver, Colo., 1926. Copyrighted, 1894 and 1926 by F. S. Kinder and F. C. Spencer. Use by Vintage Colorado Poetry, literary archive, permitted under 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act [last 20 year rule] for scholarly purpose.
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