Hats off!
         Along the street there comes
         A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
         A flash of color beneath the sky:
 Hats off!
         The flag is passing by!
 

         Blue and crimson and white it shines,
         Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
 Hats off!
         The colors before us fly;
         But more than the flag is passing by.
 
 
         Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
         Fought to make and to save the State:
         Weary marches and sinking ships;
         Cheers of victory on dying lips;
 
 
         Days of plenty and years of peace;
         March of a strong land's swift increase;
         Equal justice, right, and law,
         Stately honor and reverend awe;
 
 
         Sign of a nation, great and strong
         Toward her people from foreign wrong:
         Pride and glory and honor,--all
         Live in the colours to stand or fall.
 
 Hats off!
         Along the street ther comes
         A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
         And loyal hearts are beating high:
 Hats off!
         The Flag is passing by! 

-Henry Holcomb Bennett