I’ve tinkered at my bits of rhymes In weary, woeful, waiting times; In doleful hours of battle—din, Ere yet they brought the wounded i… Through vigils of the fateful nigh…
(France, August first, 1914) Far and near, high and clear, Hark to the call of War! Over the gorse and the golden dell… Ringing and swinging of clamorous…
“But it isn’t playing the game,” h… And he slammed his books away; “The Latin and Greek I’ve got in… Will do for a duller day.” “Rubbish!” I cried; “The bugle’s…
Sez I: My Country calls? Well, l… I grins perlitely and declines wiv… Go, let ‘em plaster every blighted… ’Ere’s ONE they don’t stampede i… Them politicians with their greasy…
. . . So I walked among the willo… There was no moon at all, at all;… There was no light at all, at all;… And I called him as his mother ca… Oh I called him all the night—tim…
Oh the wife she tried to tell me t… Of a wood—pecker a—rapping on the… And she thought that I was foolin… Of the mustering of legions, and ’… ‘Twas calling me to pull my freigh…
Tramp, tramp, the grim road, the r… (I’ve 'ammered out this ditty with… Tramp, tramp, the dim road—we didn… And bellies that was ’oller was th… Tramp, tramp, the bad road, the bi…
“Hae ye heard whit ma auld mither’… It fair maks me hamesick,” says P… “And whit did she send ye?” says… As he cockit his rifle and bleezed… “A haggis! A Haggis!” says Priva…
From wrath—red dawn to wrath—red d… The guns have brayed without abate… And now the sick sun looks upon The bleared, blood—boltered fields… As if it loathed to rise again.
Me and Ed and a stretcher Out on the nootral ground. (If there’s one dead corpse, I’ll… There’s a 'undred smellin’ around.… Me and Eddie O’Brian,
It isn’t the foe that we fear; It isn’t the bullets that whine; It isn’t the business career Of a shell, or the bust of a mine; It isn’t the snipers who seek
Oh, weren’t they the fine boys! Y… Singing all together with their th… Fighting—fit and mirth—mad, music… Swinging on to glory and the wrath… Laughing by and chaffing by, froli…
(The Wounded Canadian Speaks) My leg? It’s off at the knee. Do I miss it? Well, some. You se… I’ve had it since I was born; And lately a devilish corn.
When your marrer bone seems 'oller… And you’re glad you ain’t no talle… And you’re all a—shakin’ like you… When your skin creeps like a pulle… And you’re duckin’ all the bullets…
“Flowers, only flowers—bring me da… Blossoms for forgetfulness,” that… So we sacked our gardens, violets… Lilies white and bluebells laid we… Soft his pale hands touched them,…
I’ve been sittin’ starin’, starin’… And tryin’ to convince meself it’s… (Look out there, lad! That sniper… ’E’ll be layin’ of you out the sam… Jim as lies there in the dug—out w…
There’s a drip of honeysuckle in t… There’s old Martin jogging homewa… There are cherry petals falling, a… And a score of larks (God bless '… For you see I am not really there…
“Where are you going, Young Fello… On this glittering morn of May?” “I’m going to join the Colours, D… They’re looking for men, they say.… “But you’re only a boy, Young Fel…
No, Bill, I’m not a—spooning out… (The cove be’ind the sandbags ain’… And though I strafes ‘em good and… I guess they’re mostly decent, jus… I guess they loves their 'omes and…
O God, take the sun from the sky! It’s burning me, scorching me up. God, can’t You hear my cry? Water! A poor, little cup! It’s laughing, the cursed sun!
I’m gatherin’ flowers by the waysi… I’ve sneaked away from the billet,… ‘E’d call me a silly fat’ead, and… To see me ’ere in the cornfield, w… For Jim and me we are rough uns,…
Oh ye whose hearts are resonant, a… Hear ye the story of a boy, a peas… A lad uncouth and warped with toil… Could feel within his soul upleap… Could stand upright, and scorn and…
I’m goin’ 'ome to Blighty—ain’t I… I’m loaded up wiv fightin’, and I… I’m feelin’ so excited—like, I wa… For I’m goin’ 'ome to Blighty in… I’m goin’ 'ome to Blighty: can yo…
When a girl’s sixteen, and as poor… And she hasn’t a friend and she ha… Heigh—ho! She’s as safe in Paris… As a lamb night—strayed where the… And that was I; oh, it’s seven ye…
When first I left Blighty they ga… And told me it ‘ad to be smothered… But blimey! I ’aven’t been able t… So far as I’ve gone wiv the vinta… For ain’t it a fraud! when a Boch…
It’s easy to fight when everything… And you’re mad with the thrill and… It’s easy to cheer when victory’s… And wallow in fields that are gory… It’s a different song when everyth…
All day long when the shells sail… I stand at the sandbags and take m… But at night, at night I’m a reck… And over the parapet gleams Roman… Romance! Romance! How I’ve dream…
You want me to tell you a story, a… Of our thin red kharki 'eroes, out… Out there where the bombs are bust… and the cannons like 'ell—doors sl… Just order another drink, boys, an…
We brought him in from between the… For what’s the use of risking one’… What’s the use of tearing him loos… When he’s shot in the head, and wo… However, I say, we brought him in…
For oh, when the war will be over We’ll go and we’ll look for our de… We’ll go when the bee’s on the clo… And the plume of the poppy is red: We’ll go when the year’s at its ga…
