Camp Followers

In the old wars of the world there were camp followers,     Women of ancient sins who gave themselves for hire,     Women of weak wills and strong desire.     And, like the poison ivy in the woods     That winds itself about tall virile trees     Until it smothers them, so these     Ruined the bodies and the souls of men.     More evil were they than Red War itself,     Or Pestilence, or Famine.    Now in this war -     This last most awful carnage of the world -     All the old wickedness exists as then:     But as a foul stream from a festering fen     Is met and scattered by a mountain brook     Leaping along its beautiful, bright course,     So now the force     Of these new Followers of the camp has come     Straight from God's Source     To cleanse the world and cleanse the minds of men.     Good women, of great courage and large hearts,     Women whose slogan is self-sacrifice,     Willing to pay the price     God asks of pioneers, now play their parts     In this stupendous drama of the age     As Followers of the Camps.     They come in the name of God our Father,     They come in the name of Christ our Brother,     They come in the name of All Humanity,     To give their gold, their labour, and their love     To help the suffering souls in this war-riddled earth,     The New Women of the Race -     The New Camp Followers -     The Centuries shall do honour to their names.