| |
| IT got beyond all orders an’ it got beyond all ’ope; | |
| It got to shammin’ wounded an’ retirin’ from the ’alt. | |
| ’Ole companies was lookin’ for the nearest road to slope; | |
| It were just a bloomin’ knock-out—an’ our fault! | |
| |
| Now there ain’t no chorus ’ere to give, | 5 |
| Nor there ain’t no band to play; | |
| An’ I wish I was dead ’fore I done what I did, | |
| Or seen what I seed that day! | |
| |
| We was sick o’ bein’ punished, an’ we let ’em know it, too; | |
| An’ a company-commander up an’ ’it us with a sword, | 10 |
| An’ some one shouted “’Ook it!” an’ it come to sove-ki-poo, | |
| An’ we chucked our rifles from us—O my Gawd! | |
| |
| There was thirty dead an’ wounded on the ground we wouldn’t keep— | |
| No, there wasn’t more than twenty when the front begun to go— | |
| But, Christ! along the line o’ flight they cut us up like sheep, | 15 |
| An’ that was all we gained by doin’ so! | |
| |
| I ’eard the knives be’ind me, but I dursn’t face my man, | |
| Nor I don’t know where I went to, ’cause I didn’t ’alt to see, | |
| Till I ’eard a beggar squealin’ out for quarter as ’e ran, | |
| An’ I thought I knew the voice an’—it was me! | 20 |
| |
| We was ’idin’ under bedsteads more than ’arf a march away: | |
| We was lyin’ up like rabbits all about the country-side; | |
| An’ the Major cursed ’is Maker ’cause ’e’d lived to see that day, | |
| An’ the Colonel broke ’is sword acrost, an’ cried. | |
| |
| We was rotten ’fore we started—we was never disciplined; | 25 |
| We made it out a favour if an order was obeyed. | |
| Yes, every little drummer ’ad ’is rights an’ wrongs to mind, | |
| So we had to pay for teachin’—an’ we paid! | |
| |
| The papers ’id it ’andsome, but you know the Army knows; | |
| We was put to groomin’ camels till the regiments withdrew, | 30 |
| An’ they gave us each a medal for subduin’ England’s foes, | |
| An’ I ’ope you like my song—because it’s true! | |
| |
| An there ain’t no chorus ’ere to give, | |
| Nor there ain’t no band to play; | |
| But I wish I was dead ’fore I done what I did, | 35 |
| Or seen what I seed that day! | |
| |
