INCLUSIVE EDITION, 1885-1918 497
THAT DAY
TT 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,
Nor there ain't no band to play; An' I wish I was dead 'fore I done what I did y
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, 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, An* that was all we gained by doin' so!
I 'card 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 'card a beggar squealin' out for quarter as 'e ran, An' I thought I knew the voice an' it was me!
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.