St. George's Day
Ypres, 1915.
To fill the gap, to bear the brunt
With bayonet and with spade,
Four hundred to a four-mile front
Unbacked and undismayed—
What men are these, or what great race,
From what old shire or town,
That run with such goodwill to face
Death on a Flemish down?
With bayonet and with spade,
Four hundred to a four-mile front
Unbacked and undismayed—
What men are these, or what great race,
From what old shire or town,
That run with such goodwill to face
Death on a Flemish down?
Let be! they bind a broken line:
As men die, so die they.
Land of the free! their life was thine,
It is St. George's Day.
As men die, so die they.
Land of the free! their life was thine,
It is St. George's Day.
Yet say whose ardour bids them stand
At bay by yonder bank,
Where a boy's voice and boy's hand
Close up the quivering rank.
At bay by yonder bank,
Where a boy's voice and boy's hand
Close up the quivering rank.
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