Page:Sassoon, Siegfried - Counter-Attack and Other Poems (1918).djvu/31

 are citizens of death's grey land,
 * Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows.

In the great hour of destiny they stand,
 * Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows.

Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win
 * Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.

Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin
 * They think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives.

I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats,
 * And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain,

Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats,
 * And mocked by hopeless longing to regain

Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats,
 * And going to the office in the train.