Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/242

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224
RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE
Then a health (we must drink it in whispers),
To our wholly unauthorized horde—
To the line of our dusty foreloopers,
The Gentlemen Rovers abroad
Yes, a health to ourselves ere we scatter,
For the steamer won't wait for the train,
And the Legion that never was 'listed
Goes back into quarters again
'Regards!
Goes back under canvas again.
Hurrah!
The swag and the billy again.
Here's how!
The trail and the packhorse again.
Salue!
The trek and the lager again!


The Irish Guards

1918

WE'RE not so old in the Army List,
But we're not so young at our trade,
For we had the honour at Fontenoy
Of meeting the Guards' Brigade.
'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare,
And Lee that led us then,
And after a hundred and seventy years
We're fighting for France again!
  Old Days! The wild geese are flighting,
   Head to the storm as they faced it before!
  For where there are Irish there's bound to be fighting,
   And when there's no fighting, it's Ireland no more!
Ireland no more!