Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/179

 William Pike Osborne

They laughed and learned and laboured, did the Men of Yesterday.

The tents were struck ere dawning ; beneath a rainy sky They marched away to Old Quebec to hear their last

goodbye. The streets were filled with khaki and on the crowded

pier Were tear-wet eyes and breaking hearts, O Men of

Yesteryear !

O sacred soil of Flanders, red altar of our pride, Historic field of Langemarck where on they fought and

died! There were none that fought more bravely or their

honour held more dear Than the men who lit their campfires in this valley

Yesteryear.

They have writ another chapter on our envied scroll of

Fame. They have set the Empire ringing with our proud

Dominion s name; But they paid a costly quittance. And we, with sigh

and tear, We, too, must pay our reckoning, O Men of Yesteryear !

Once more the heavy lorries plough up Valcartier hill, Once more within the dusty lines the troop-horse

whinnies shrill; And khaki figures come and go, their sharp commands

I hear, But I see a phantom army- Tis the Men of Yesteryear !

O men who left Valcartier, God rest your valiant shades That walk amid the ghostly tents and haunt the lonely

glades ! When the last, loud trump is sounding and the Warrior

Hosts appear,

He shall number you among them, O Men of Yesteryear !

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