Country Sentiment by Robert Ranke Graves
page 58 of 64 (90%)
page 58 of 64 (90%)
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Till at the end of their grand noise
I called: "Give us the 'Sospan' boys!" Who knows a tune so soft, so strong, So pitiful as that "Saucepan" song For exiled hope, despaired desire Of lost souls for their cottage fire? Then low at first with gathering sound Rose their four voices, smooth and round, Till back went Time: once more I stood With Fusiliers in Mametz Wood. Fierce burned the sun, yet cheeks were pale, For ice hail they had leaden hail; In that fine forest, green and big, There stayed unbroken not one twig. They sang, they swore, they plunged in haste, Stumbling and shouting through the waste; The little "Saucepan" flamed on high, Emblem of hope and ease gone by. Rough pit-boys from the coaly South, They sang, even in the cannon's mouth; Like Sunday's chapel, Monday's inn, The death-trap sounded with their din. *** |
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