 | English Roses |  |
144
IN ACTION.
Into action we went laughing there and then
Full of fighting, full of cursing
Which we had so long been nursing,
Just a thousand strong all told and proper men.
Balls were humming, cannon strumming;
And true hearts to battle drumming;
As we marched to meet them in the slaughter pen,
While a hell of iron nozzles howled Amen.
Salt and seasoned lads were we
Eager only to unmask that armèd puzzle,
Ripe for mischief and the worst damnation spree,
Loaded likewise to the muzzle.
Full of fighting, full of cursing
Which we had so long been nursing,
Just a thousand strong all told and proper men.
Balls were humming, cannon strumming;
And true hearts to battle drumming;
As we marched to meet them in the slaughter pen,
While a hell of iron nozzles howled Amen.
Salt and seasoned lads were we
Eager only to unmask that armèd puzzle,
Ripe for mischief and the worst damnation spree,
Loaded likewise to the muzzle.
Out of action we came hungry at the last
Full of cursing, full of fighting
And hard blows that were delighting,
Not a hundred strong all told by muster past;
Though as lumber, beyond number
Slept their deep unwaking slumber
Enemies, who would not break to-morrow's fast—
While of us not one escaped the leaden blast.
Weary frames and sternly tried
We had faced the fire and buffets late and early,
But if worn and torn remained unsatisfied—
Ready for the hurly-burly.
Full of cursing, full of fighting
And hard blows that were delighting,
Not a hundred strong all told by muster past;
Though as lumber, beyond number
Slept their deep unwaking slumber
Enemies, who would not break to-morrow's fast—
While of us not one escaped the leaden blast.
Weary frames and sternly tried
We had faced the fire and buffets late and early,
But if worn and torn remained unsatisfied—
Ready for the hurly-burly.
But in action we were like one moving wall,
Linked and living steel that harried
Ruined ranks and grimly carried
In its conquering progress man and steel and all,
Down and under, with the thunder
And the bolts that burst asunder
Square and squadron toppled in the same red fall—
Battered, shattered out of hope of their recall.
For we never dreamed of flight,
And each hand however rude that took the shilling
Yet was clothed in awful armour of the Right,
And for either fortune willing.
Linked and living steel that harried
Ruined ranks and grimly carried
In its conquering progress man and steel and all,
Down and under, with the thunder
And the bolts that burst asunder
Square and squadron toppled in the same red fall—
Battered, shattered out of hope of their recall.
For we never dreamed of flight,
And each hand however rude that took the shilling
Yet was clothed in awful armour of the Right,
And for either fortune willing.
145
But we did return in triumph with the tread
Of Deliverers, fit for action
Still, with here and there a fraction
Left of butchered limb and trunk and mangled head;
Having written on the smitten
Foes our law of justice, bitten
Sharply by the sword in dying breasts and dead,
And for liberty a path of glory spread.
For the Empire was our care,
Laid upon us with the charge that makes man bolder;
And its honour each of us upbare,
Bravely, on his single shoulder.
Of Deliverers, fit for action
Still, with here and there a fraction
Left of butchered limb and trunk and mangled head;
Having written on the smitten
Foes our law of justice, bitten
Sharply by the sword in dying breasts and dead,
And for liberty a path of glory spread.
For the Empire was our care,
Laid upon us with the charge that makes man bolder;
And its honour each of us upbare,
Bravely, on his single shoulder.
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