Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/496

 Beefy face an' grubby 'and Law! wot do they understand? I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land! On the road to Mandalay. ..

Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, Where there are n't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst; For the temple-bells are callin',an' it's there that I would be By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking laz.y at the sea; On the road to Mandalay, Where the old Flotilla lay, With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay! O the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin'-fishes play, An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!

ROOPIN', troopin', troopin' to the sea: 'Ere's September come again the six-year men are free. O leave the dead be'ind us, for they cannot come away To where the ship's a-coalin' up that takes us 'ome to-day. We're goin' 'ome, we're goin' 'ome, Our ship is at the shore, An' you must pack your 'aversack, For we won't come back no more. Ho, don't you grieve for me, My lovely Mary-Ann, For I'll marry you yit on a fourp'ny bit As a time-expired man.