Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/244

And after one hundred and seventy years
 We're fighting for France again!
  Ah, France ! And did we stand by you,
   When life was made splendid with gifts and rewards?
  Ah, France ! And will we deny you
   In the hour of your agony, Mother of Swords?
  Old Days ! The wild geese are flighting,
   Head to the storm as they faced it before!
  For where there are Irish there's loving and fighting,
   And when we stop either, it's Ireland no more!
Ireland no more!

 

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PHARAOH AND THE SERGEANT

1897

"…Consider that the meritorious services of the Sergeant Instructors attached to the Egyptian Army have been inadequately acknowledged…
To the excellence of their work is mainly due the great improvement that has taken place in the soldiers of H.H. the Khedive. "

Extract from Letter.

SAID England unto Pharaoh, "I must make a man of you,

That will stand upon his feet and play the game;

That will Maxim his oppressor as a Christian ought to do,"

And she sent old Pharaoh Sergeant Whatisname.

It was not a Duke nor Earl, nor yet a Viscount—

It was not a big brass General that came;

But a man in khaki kit who could handle men a bit,

With his bedding labelled Sergeant Whatisname.

Said England unto Pharaoh, "Though at present singing small,

You shall hum a proper tune before it ends,"

And she introduced old Pharaoh to the Sergeant once for all,

And left 'em in the desert making friends.