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Wessex Poems and Other Verses by Thomas Hardy
page 40 of 106 (37%)
"Charging the Marshal straight
To strike between the double host ahead
Ere they co-operate,

"Engaging Blucher till the Emperor put
Lord Wellington to flight,
And next the Prussians. This to set afoot
Is my emprise to-night."

I joined him in the mist; but, pausing, sought
To estimate his say.
Grouchy had made for Wavre; and yet, on thought,
I did not lead that way.

I mused: "If Grouchy thus instructed be,
The clash comes sheer hereon;
My farm is stript. While, as for pieces three,
Money the French have none.

"Grouchy unwarned, moreo'er, the English win,
And mine is left to me -
They buy, not borrow."--Hence did I begin
To lead him treacherously.

By Joidoigne, near to east, as we ondrew,
Dawn pierced the humid air;
And eastward faced I with him, though I knew
Never marched Grouchy there.

Near Ottignies we passed, across the Dyle
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