Page:Soldier poets, songs of the fighting men, 1916.djvu/27

Rh O! the ground seemed such a way below,

But he smiled a doubtful smile-a,

And he grit his teeth and sang "Cheer-o!"

Though the drop to the ground seemed a mile-a.

The song of the man in the khaki-coat

As he stands in the wet and snow,

A smoking rifle in his hands

And his feet in the mud below.

The tale of the charge and the man that fell,

Of the tunic dyed with red,

The tight-clenched teeth and the clammy brow

And the stain where the wound had bled.

O! he groaned as he jolted to and fro

And wan, wan was his smile-a,

But he grit his teeth and he hummed "Cheer-o!"

And he died at the end of a mile-a. 23