Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/472

⁠Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
⁠But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to "roll
⁠The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,—
⁠O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
⁠While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"
⁠But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind—
⁠There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
⁠O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o* better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
⁠For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
⁠But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
⁠An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
⁠An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool—you bet that Tommy sees!