Eager to show their mettle, ready to shed their blood,They bowed their neck to the collar and trained in the Wiltshire mud;Shipped, in the fulness of time, across to the other shore,Heard a deep hum in the distance, the basso profundo of war,Fretted to get to the business, chafed for the firing line;Forward, with throbbing…
His ways are so strictly impartial,His power is great,His word carries weightIn matters domestic and martial.He never takes sides,But rough-shod he ridesOver General French and the Kaiser;Party spirit he shuns,He hinders the HunsAnd makes Tommy sadder and wiser.When in genial moodHe’s so kindly and goodYou’d never believe he could vary.But when out for a grumbleHe’s…
I haven’t forgotten the seasonWhen we curled up before the “All Blacks.”In the matter of wielding the “willow,”We own, to our cost, that you’re it,The “ashes” you’ve borne o’er the billow—Though they’re home again now, for a bit.There are weightier matters to settleTo-day, amid bullets and shells;And the world stands amazed at the mettleYou’ve shown…
Dear lady, are you open to a hintAs down our sober pavement you displayA costume reminiscent of a printOf Valenciennes and shepherdesses gay?When Watteau, master of Rococo art,Depicted nymphs in pastoral disguises,His cunning pencil only could impartA charm to graceful shapes and slender sizes.That saucy Watteau hat where rosebuds twineIs not the sort a florid…
Strephon and Chloe found the sceneExceedingly engaging;Though Mother Earth reproached the skiesWith flinging pailfuls at her,When Strephon looked in Chloe’s eyesThe weather didn’t matter.When ‘Arry up on ‘Ampstead ‘EathPerformed a double shuffle,The rain above, the mud beneath,His spirits failed to ruffle;For ‘Arriet was by his sideIn maddened mazes whirlingAnd little cared his promised brideTo see…
Through Marylebone and Marble Arch,Men in motley, so to speak,Been in training about a week,Swinging easy, toe and heel,Game and gay, and keen as steel.Dr-rud dr-rud dr-rud dr-rudNorfolk jackets, city suits,Some in shoes and some in boots;Clerk and sportsman, tough and nut,Reach-me-downs and Bond-Street cut;Typical kit of every kind,To show the life they’ve left behind.Dr-rud…
The soldier of a life-long fight,Still fighting, went to die.His country’s honour was his goal;Patient, unswerving, brave,His mind, his heart, his work, his soulHis very all, he gave.He toiled to rouse us from our sleep,And now he takes his rest,And we it is not ours to weep,But follow his behest.‘Tis ours to make this matter…
In the ravine of famed ThermopylaeHeld up the Persian army’s endless waves.Smiling, among the forest of his spears,‘Lay down your arms, the haughty Xerxes cried.The Spartan’s answer echoes down the years,‘Come here and take them !’ So they fought, and died.Horatius the odds grow longer nowWith two bold friends, Lars Porsena defied.That dauntless trio registered…
Let us hark back a bit to an affairThat happened in Queen Bess’s sturdy days,When the Armada, backed by Spanish lustA fleet that floating palaces resembledSailed proudly forth to crush us in the dust,While all the tremulous in England trembled.What was the fate of those unwieldy craft ?Our little frigates made of British oakHarassed the…
That’s a feat you don’t disdain,De Wet.England’s easy, England’s kind,Quick to pardon and forget.There’s a limit, as you’ll find,De Wet.Glad to raise a fallen foe,Ready to erase a debt.Quick to spare a traitor ? No,De Wet.England trusts a solemn vow,That’s her way. We don’t regret.So be it, we know you now,De Wet.Treachery will miss its…
