Work-a-day Warriors/The Things I've Seen

by Joseph Lee

THE THINGS I'VE SEEN

Perhaps a hundred years from now,
When I below the sod am jammed,
Some bloke may pick up this 'ere pome,
And read, and say, "Well, I'll be damned!"

"There's nothing new," the Preacher says,
"That happens underneath the sun"—
And yet the curious things I've seen;
The bloomin' curious things I've done.

I've seen young blokes what has been bred
To sell duds in a draperie,
Stand under fire and keep their head
Wi' seasoned sodjers same as me!

I've 'ad them on a bombing raid,
Wi' faces and wi' bay'nets black,
And not a single one afraid
And not a single man hang back!

They've lain and waited till the wire
Was cut and scattered by our shells,
Then waltzed into the German trench
As gay as Negro minster-els!

I've seen our Batt. go singing in
To what was well-nigh certain death;
I've seen 'em die, and heard 'em cheer
For Britain wi' their dying breath!

I've seen my matey standing by,
And asked him if a fag he'd got;
He hadn't even time to cry
When something took him—he was not!

I've seen a bloke shot thro' the head—
A bloke I ne'er heard swear afore—
He spun right round, and dropped down dead,
And wot he said was, "O you whore!"

I've seen me chargin' on the foe,
To prod him wi' my bayonet;
Then "Kamerad!"—and next I know
I'm handing him a cigarette!

I've seen our sappers spring a mine,
That darkened all the sky at noon,
And left a hole within their line
Like some lorn crater of the moon!

I've seen the Germans shell a town,
In this ungracious year o' grace;
A market town, on market day—
And first shell in the market-place!

I've seen an aeroplane brought down,
Just like a bird wi' broken wing,
And watched, for what seemed like a week,
Them doomed men try to right the thing!

I've heard the guns at Neuve Chapelle—
An earthquake held in leash, say I,
Yet, o'er the hubbub of that hell,
I've heard a lark sing in the sky!

I've seen, amidst this waste o' war,
God's goodly seasons come and go;
And flowers bloom in the wilderness,
And rain fall both on friend and foe.

I've seen—I've seen a heap o' things,
That I ain't got no time to tell,
But every word is Gospel true—
I've done most o' the things mysel'.

"All vanity," the Preacher says,
"There's nothing new beneath the Sun—"
And still the curious things I've seen,
The amazing curious things I've done!

Perchance a hundred years from now,
When I below the sod am jammed,
Some bloke will pick up this 'ere pome,
And read, and say, "Well, I'll be damned!"

And say!—If for the hist'ry books,
Some o' my words seem rather warm,
Perhaps some bloke might sort 'em out—
I wouldn't do the kids no harm!