Departmental Ditties & Barrack Room Ballads by Rudyard Kipling
page 39 of 149 (26%)
page 39 of 149 (26%)
|
XVI.
My Son, if a maiden deny thee and scufflingly bid thee give o'er, Yet lip meets with lip at the last word--get out! She has been there before. They are pecked on the ear and the chin and the nose who are lacking in lore. XVII. If we fall in the race, though we win, the hoof-slide is scarred on the course. Though Allah and Earth pardon Sin, remaineth forever Remorse. XVIII. "By all I am misunderstood!" if the Matron shall say, or the Maid: "Alas! I do not understand," my son, be thou nowise afraid. In vain in the sight of the Bird is the net of the Fowler displayed. XIX. My son, if I, Hafiz, the father, take hold of thy knees in my pain, Demanding thy name on stamped paper, one day or one hour--refrain. Are the links of thy fetters so light that thou cravest another man's chain? THE GRAVE OF THE HUNDRED HEAD There's a widow in sleepy Chester Who weeps for her only son; There's a grave on the Pabeng River, A grave that the Burmans shun, |
|