Edgar Albert Guest
He was battle-scarred and ugly with the marks of shot and shell,
And we knew that British Tommy had a stirring tale to tell,
So we asked him where he got it and what disarranged his face,
And he answered, blushing scarlet: ‘In a nawsty little place.’
 
There were medals on his jacket, but he wouldn’t tell us why.
‘A bit lucky, gettin’ this one,' was the sum of his reply.
He had fought a horde of Prussians with his back against the wall,
And he told us, when we questioned: 'H’it was nothing arfter h’all.’
 
Not a word of what he’d suffered, not a word of what he’d seen,
Not a word about the fury of the hell through which he’d been.
All he said was: 'When you’re cornered, h’and you’ve got no plyce to go,
You’ve just got to stand up to it! You cawn’t ‘elp yourself, you know.
 
’H’it was just a bit unpleasant, when the shells were droppin’ thick,’
And he tapped his leather leggins with his little bamboo stick.
‘What did H’I do? Nothing, really! Nothing more than just my share;
Some one h’else would gladly do it, but H’I ‘appened to be there.’
 
When this sturdy British Tommy quits the battlefields of earth
And St. Peter asks his spirit to recount his deeds of worth,
I fancy I can hear him, with his curious English drawl,
Saying: 'Nothing, nothing really, that’s worth mentioning at h’all.’
Login to comment.
Other works by Edgar Albert Guest...



Top
Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  3. Marque la casilla de verificación "Desactivar UltraBlock"
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).