Kitabı oku: «The Ballad of Ensign Joy», sayfa 2

 
made.
He spoke of a shell that caused grievous loss —
But he never mentioned a certain
cross
For his part in the escapade!
 
 
SHE saw it herself in a list next
day,
And it brought her back to his
bed,
With a number of beautiful
things to say,
Which were mostly over his
head.
Turned pink as his own pyjamas'
stripe,
To her mind he ceased to em-
body a type —
Sank into her heart instead.
 
 
I WONDER that all of you
didn't retire!"
"My blighters were not that
kind."
"But it says you 'advanced un-
der murderous fire,
Machine-gun and shell com-
bined – '"
"Oh, that's the regular War
Office wheeze!"
"'Advanced' – with that leg! —
'on his hands and knees'!"
"I couldn't leave it behind."
 
 
HE was soon trick-driving an
invalid chair,
and dancing about on a crutch;
The haute noblesse of Grosvenor
Square
Felt bound to oblige as such;
They sent him for many a motor-
whirl —
With the wistful, willowy wisp of
a girl
Who never again lost touch.
 
 
THEIR people were most of
them dead and gone.
They had only themselves to
His pay was enough to marry
upon,
As every Ensign sees.
They would muddle along (as
in fact they did)
With vast supplies of the tertium
quid
You bracket with bread-and-
cheese.
please.
 
 
THEY gave him some leave
after Grosvenor Square —
And bang went a month on
banns;
For Ermyntrude had a natural
flair
For the least unusual plans.
Her heaviest uncle came down
well,
And entertained, at a fair hotel,
The dregs of the coupled clans.
 
 
A CERTAIN number of
cheques accrued
To keep the wolf from the
door:
The economical Ermyntrude
Had charge of the dwindling
store,
When a Board reported her
bridegroom fit
As – some expression she didn't
permit.
And he left for the Front once
more.
 
 
HIS crowd had been climbing
the jaws of hell:
He found them in death's dog-
teeth,
With little to show but a good
deal to tell
In their fissure of smoking
heath.
There were changes – of course
– but the change in him
Was the ribbon that showed on
his tunic trim
And the tumult hidden be-
neath!
 
 
FOR all he had suffered and
seen before
Seemed nought to a husband's
care;
And the Chinese puzzle of mod-
ern war
For subtlety couldn't compare
With the delicate springs of the
complex life
To be led with a highly sensitised
wife
In a slightly rarefied air!
 
 
YET it's good to be back with
the old platoon —
"A man in a world of men"!
Each cheery dog is a henchman
boon —
Especially Sergeant Wren!
Ermyntrude couldn't endure his
name —
Considered bad language no lien
on fame,
Yet it's good to – hear it
again!
 
 
BETTER to feel the Ser-
geant's grip,
Though your fingers ache to
the bone!
Better to take the Sergeant's tip