ONLY two African kopjes, | |
| Only the cart-tracks that wind | |
| Empty and open between ’em, | |
| Only the Transvaal behind; | |
| Only an Aldershot column | 5 |
| Marching to conquer the land … | |
| Only a sudden and solemn | |
| Visit, unarmed, to the Rand. | |
| |
| Then scorn not the African kopje, | |
| The kopje that smiles in the heat, | 10 |
| The wholly unoccupied kopje, | |
| The home of Cornelius and Piet. | |
| You can never be sure of your kopje, | |
| But of this be you blooming well sure, | |
| A kopje is always a kopje, | 15 |
| And a Boojer is always a Boer! | |
| |
| Only two African kopjes, | |
| Only the vultures above, | |
| Only baboons—at the bottom, | |
| Only some buck on the move; | 20 |
| Only a Kensington draper | |
| Only pretending to scout … | |
| Only bad news for the paper, | |
| Only another knock-out. | |
| |
| Then mock not the African kopje, | 25 |
| And rub not your flank on its side, | |
| The silent and simmering kopje, | |
The kopje beloved by the guide.
You can never be, etc. | |
| |
| Only two African kopjes, | |
| Only the dust of their wheels, | 30 |
| Only a bolted commando, | |
| Only our guns at their heels … | |
| Only a little barb-wire, | |
| Only a natural fort, | |
| Only “by sections retire,” | 35 |
| Only “regret to report!” | |
| |
| Then mock not the African kopje, | |
| Especially when it is twins, | |
| One sharp and one table-topped kopje | |
For that’s where the trouble begins.
You never can be, etc. | 40 |
| |
| Only two African kopjes | |
| Baited the same as before— | |
| Only we’ve had it so often, | |
| Only we’re taking no more … | |
| Only a wave to our troopers, | 45 |
| Only our flanks swinging past, | |
| Only a dozen voorloopers, 1 | |
| Only we’ve learned it at last! | |
| |
| Then mock not the African kopje, | |
| But take off your hat to the same, | 50 |
| The patient, impartial old kopje, | |
| The kopje that taught us the game! | |
| For all that we knew in the Columns, | |
| And all they’ve forgot on the Staff, | |
| We learned at the Fight o’ Two Kopjes, | 55 |
| Which lasted two years an’ a half. | |
| |
| O mock not the African kopje, | |
| Not even when peace has been signed— | |
| The kopje that isn’t a kopje— | |
| The kopje that copies its kind. | 60 |
| You can never be sure of your kopje, | |
| But of this be you blooming well sure, | |
| That a kopje is always a kopje, | |
| And a Boojer is always a Boer! | |
