Bed Bug Reveille Poem, Written by Ossie Rivers, 1890
Title
Bed Bug Reveille Poem, Written by Ossie Rivers, 1890
Description
Poem written by Rivers about bed bugs in the barracks.
Creator
Source
A1984.24, Box 2, Folder 1
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Date
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/admin/items/show/1113
Coverage
Charleston (S.C.)
Text
[Page 1]
‘The Bed Bug Reveille’
In barracks when the sun is low
The face of each Cadet will grow
As white as the driven snow
They fear the Bed Bug Reveille
They well may fear for when the light
Grows to the darker shades of night
Their bunks present an awful sight
Of bed bugs running rapidly
A sheet they raise, a blanket take
While all their nerves with terror quake
But still they seek the bugs to shake
Out from among their covering.
But while Cadets upon them raid
Each bed bug draws his battle blade
And blood stained sheets are quickly made
The scene of death and victory
The fight grows thicker on ye brave
[Page 2]
Strike now Cadet your bacon save
Or soon alas! You’ll have to waive
All claims of chivalry
Yes see them now with terror riven
Rush forth like steeds from battle driven
And yields their bunks to odds of seven
Fierce as red artillery
And bed bugs in peace now left
To whet their bills, and mourn bereft
Their brothers whom cadets have cleft
In twain, in fight so terrible.
And few will part where many meet
For corpses strew those rumpled sheets
And boys in gray on swift winged feet
Fly for their life and liberty
Cadet Rivers
‘The Bed Bug Reveille’
In barracks when the sun is low
The face of each Cadet will grow
As white as the driven snow
They fear the Bed Bug Reveille
They well may fear for when the light
Grows to the darker shades of night
Their bunks present an awful sight
Of bed bugs running rapidly
A sheet they raise, a blanket take
While all their nerves with terror quake
But still they seek the bugs to shake
Out from among their covering.
But while Cadets upon them raid
Each bed bug draws his battle blade
And blood stained sheets are quickly made
The scene of death and victory
The fight grows thicker on ye brave
[Page 2]
Strike now Cadet your bacon save
Or soon alas! You’ll have to waive
All claims of chivalry
Yes see them now with terror riven
Rush forth like steeds from battle driven
And yields their bunks to odds of seven
Fierce as red artillery
And bed bugs in peace now left
To whet their bills, and mourn bereft
Their brothers whom cadets have cleft
In twain, in fight so terrible.
And few will part where many meet
For corpses strew those rumpled sheets
And boys in gray on swift winged feet
Fly for their life and liberty
Cadet Rivers
Collection
Citation
Rivers, Walter Oswald, 1871-1890, “Bed Bug Reveille Poem, Written by Ossie Rivers, 1890,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 4, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/1113.