Page:Digger Smith (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/82

 An' in their ears wild fightin' cries, They ever after shun. P'r'aps they forget; or find it well Not to recall too much uv 'Ell.

An' when they won't loose up their talk It's 'ard for us to understand 'Ow all those boys we used to know, Ole Billo, Jim an' Tom an' Joe, Done things to beat the band. We knoo they'd fight; but they've became 'Ead ringers at the fightin' game.

Well, wot I've 'eard from Digger Smith An' other soldier blokes like 'im I've put together bit by bit, An' chewed a long time over it; An' now I've got a dim An' 'azy notion in me 'ead 'Ow they is battlers, born an' bred.

Wot did they know uv war first off, When they joined up? Wot did I know When I was tossed out on me neck As if I was a shattered wreck The time I tried to go? Flat feet! Me feet 'as len'th an' brea'th Enough to kick a 'Un to death!