What's that?–a step upon the stair;
A shout!–the door thrown open wide!
My hero and my man is there,
And Annie's leaping by his side.…
The room reels round, I faint, I fall.…
“O God! Thy world is glorified.”
VICTORY STUFF
What d’ye think, lad; what d’ye think,
As the roaring crowds go by?
As the banners flare and the brasses blare
And the great guns rend the sky?
As the women laugh like they’d all gone mad,
And the champagne glasses clink:
Oh, you’re grippin’ me hand so tightly, lad,
I’m a-wonderin’: what d’ye think?
D’ye think o’ the boys we used to know,
And how they’d have topped the fun?
Tom and Charlie, and Jack and Joe–
Gone now, every one.
How they’d have cheered as the joy-bells chime,
And they grabbed each girl for a kiss!
And now–they're rottin’ in Flanders slime,
And they gave their lives–for this.
Or else d’ye think of the many a time
We wished we too was dead,
Up to our knees in the freezin’ grime,
With the fires of hell overhead;
