Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/338

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BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS

"I seed 'im runnin' by when the shots begun to fly—
But you'd best go look for a new love."


"Soldier, soldier, come from the wars,
Did aught take 'arm to my true love?"
"I couldn't see the fight, for the smoke it lay so white—
An' you'd best go look for a new love."


"Soldier, soldier, come from the wars,
I'll up an' tend to my true love!"
"'E's lying on the dead with a bullet through 'is 'ead,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."


"Soldier, soldier, come from the wars,
I'll down an' die with my true love!"
"The pit we dug'll 'ide 'im an' the twenty men beside 'im—
An' you'd best go look for a new love."


"Soldier, soldier, come from the wars.
Do you bring no sign from my true love?"
"I bring a lock of 'air that 'e alius used to wear,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."