Edmund Vance Cooke, Back of the Boy.
“
Back of the boy is Wilson, Pledge of his high degree, Back of the boy is Lincoln, Lincoln and Grant and Lee; Back of the boy is Jackson, Jackson and Tippecanoe, Back of each son is Washington, And the old red, white and blue!
— Edmund Vance Cooke on Soldiers
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Back of the boy is Wilson, Pledge of his high degree, Back of the boy is Lincoln, Lincoln and Grant and Lee; Back of the boy is Jackson, Jackson and Tippecanoe, Back of each son is Washington, And the old red, white and blue!" in the context of "Edmund Vance Cooke, Back of the Boy." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Soldiers" (Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations: Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 725-29.)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Edmund Vance Cooke
Edmund Vance Cooke (June 5, 1866 – December 18, 1932) was a Canadian poet.
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