Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/64

 Douglas Leader Durkin

Though he railed at God Almighty, he could stand and

never whine,

He could rush in hell-to-split through fields of blood; He could wriggle out to No-man s Land and join the

phantom host

Where the dead arose and stalked about in white; He could roll a quid beneath a flare or tango with a

ghost, He could dally where the bullets ripped the night.

When he waited for the morning, when he stood to in

the gloom,

While the dizzy shock of thunder woke the night, When he heard the dogs of vengeance barking out their

iron doom,

All his heart was up with passion for the fight. He would whistle Tipperary when he heard the bullets

whine,

He would caper when the saucy Maxims whirred ; He would curse the tardy captain when he held the

eager line, He was first up when the captain gave his word.

When we charged them at the double he was first across

the field,

He was first to use his steel upon the Hun ; He was last to stay his fury when we saw the Bosches

yield,

And he damned them all for dastards when we won; Then he railed in ribald challenge, we would meet them

one to four,

And he turned to chide the captain for his stand,

But behind us in the open lay the captain in his gore,

Striving still to voice a word of stern command.

Then we heard this rip o Hades fling his curse at God

above

As he tossed his pelt and tunic to the ground ; With a parting prayer to heaven for his little light o love,

�� �