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Guards Came Through and other Poems

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<h2><SPAN class="pagenum" name="Page_37" title="37"> </SPAN>GROUSING</h2> <div class="subheading" id="toby"> <p>“The army swore terribly in Flanders.”</p> <p class="small-caps" style="margin-left: 6em;">Uncle Toby.</p> </div> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line"><span class="small-caps">What</span> do the soldiers say?</div> <div class="line indent2">“Dam! Dam! Dam!</div> <div class="line">I don't mind cold, I don't mind heat,</div> <div class="line">Over the top for a Sunday treat,</div> <div class="line">With Fritz I'll always take my spell,</div> <div class="line">But I want my grub, and where in hell</div> <div class="line indent2">Is the jam?”</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line">What does the officer say?</div> <div class="line indent2">“Dam! Dam! Dam!</div> <div class="line">Mud and misery, flies and stench,</div> <div class="line">Piggin' it here in a beastly trench,</div> <SPAN class="pagenum" name="Page_38" title="38"> </SPAN> <div class="line">But what I mean, by Jove, you see,</div> <div class="line">I like my men and they don't mind me,</div> <div class="line">So, on the whole, I'd rather be</div> <div class="line indent2">Where I am.”</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line">What does the enemy say?</div> <div class="line indent2">“Kolossal Verdam!</div> <div class="line">They told me, when the war began,</div> <div class="line">The British Tommy always ran,</div> <div class="line">And so he does, just as they said,</div> <div class="line">But, <i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Donnerwetter!</i> it's straight ahead,</div> <div class="line indent2">Like a ram.”</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line">What does the public say?</div> <div class="line indent2">“Dam! Dam! Dam!</div> <div class="line">They tax me here, they tax me there,</div> <SPAN class="pagenum" name="Page_39" title="39"> </SPAN> <div class="line">Bread is dear and the cupboard bare,</div> <div class="line">I'm bound to grouse, but if it's the way</div> <div class="line">To win the war, why then I'll pay</div> <div class="line indent2">Like a lamb.”</div> </div></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />

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