The Volunteer

Related poetry:

1. Gypsy Jill They’re hanging Bill at eight o’ clock, And millions will applaud. He killed, and so they have to kill, Such is the will of God. His brother Tom is on my bed To keep me comforted. I see his bleary, blotchy face, I hear his sodden snore. He plans that he can take Bill’s place; […]...
2. The Parting Sky’s a-waxin’ grey, Got to be a-goin’; Gittin’ on my way, Where? I ain’t a-knowin’. Fellers, no more jokes, Fun an’ frisky greetin’ So long, all you folks, Been nice our meetin’. Sky’s a-growin’ dark, Have to be a-startin’. Feeble is the spark, Pitiful the partin’. Family an’ all, Thanks for joy I owe you; […]...
3. Après le Bain I gotta Buy me a new Girdle. (I’ll buy You one) O. K. (I wish You’d wig- Gle that way For me, I’d be A happy man) I GOTTA Wig- Gle for this. (You pig)...
4. Dream Song 40: I'm scared a lonely. Never see my son I’m scared a lonely. Never see my son, Easy be not to see anyone, Combers out to sea Know they’re goin somewhere but not me. Got a little poison, got a little gun, I’m scared a lonely. I’m scared a only one thing, which is me, From othering I don’t take nothin, see, For any […]...
5. Almost Beyond Endurance I ain’t a-goin’ to cry no more, no more! I’m got ear-ache, an’ Ma can’t make It quit a-tall; An’ Carlo bite my rubber-ball An’ puncture it; an’ Sis she take An’ poke’ my knife down through the stable-floor An’ loozed it – blame it all! But I ain’t goin’ to cry no more, no […]...
6. A Song Of The Sandbags No, Bill, I’m not a-spooning out no patriotic tosh (The cove be’ind the sandbags ain’t a death-or-glory cuss). And though I strafes ’em good and ‘ard I doesn’t ‘ate the Boche, I guess they’re mostly decent, just the same as most of us. I guess they loves their ‘omes and kids as much as you […]...
7. Uncle Bill My Uncle Bill! My Uncle Bill! How doth my heart with anguish thrill! For he, our chief, our Robin Hood, Has gone to jail for stealing wood! With tears and sobs my voice I raise To celebrate my uncle’s praise; With all my strength, with all my skill, I’ll sing the song of Uncle Bill.” […]...
8. Going Home I’m goin’ ‘ome to Blighty ain’t I glad to ‘ave the chance! I’m loaded up wiv fightin’, and I’ve ‘ad my fill o’ France; I’m feelin’ so excited-like, I want to sing and dance, For I’m goin’ ‘ome to Blighty in the mawnin’. I’m goin’ ‘ome to Blighty: can you wonder as I’m gay? I’ve […]...
9. Troopin&#039 Troopin’, troopin’, troopin’ to the sea: ‘Ere’s September come again the six-year men are free. O leave the dead be’ind us, for they cannot come away To where the ship’s a-coalin’ up that takes us ‘ome to-day. We’re goin’ ‘ome, we’re goin’ ‘ome, Our ship is at the shore, An’ you must pack your ‘aversack, […]...
10. The Answer Bill has left his house of clay, Slammed the door and gone away: How he laughed but yesterday! I had two new jokes to tell, Salty, but he loved them well: Now I see his empty shell. Poker-faced he looks at me; Peeved to miss them jokes – how h Would have belly-laughed with glee! […]...
11. Picnic-time It’s June ag’in, an’ in my soul I feel the fillin’ joy That’s sure to come this time o’ year to every little boy; For, every June, the Sunday-schools at picnics may be seen, Where “fields beyont the swellin’ floods stand dressed in livin’ green”; Where little girls are skeered to death with spiders, bugs, […]...
12. Pooch Nurse, won’t you let him in? He’s barkin’ an’ scratchen’ the door, Makin’ so dreffel a din I jest can’t sleep any more; Out there in the dark an’ the cold, Hark to him scrape an’ whine, Breakin’ his heart o’ gold, Poor little pooch o’ mine. Nurse, I was sat in ma seat In […]...
13. The Coward ‘Ave you seen Bill’s mug in the Noos to-day? ‘E’s gyned the Victoriar Cross, they say; Little Bill wot would grizzle and run away, If you ‘it ‘im a swipe on the jawr. ‘E’s slaughtered the Kaiser’s men in tons; ‘E’s captured one of their quick-fire guns, And ‘e ‘adn’t no practice in killin’ ‘Uns […]...
14. Our Pote A pote is sure a goofy guy; He ain’t got guts like you or I To tell the score; He ain’t goy gumption ’nuff to know The game of life’s to get the dough, Then get some more. Take Brother Bill, he used to be The big shot of the family, The first at school; […]...
15. My Hero Of all the boys with whom I fought In Africa and Sicily, Bill was the bravest of the lot In our dare-devil Company. That lad would rather die than yield; His gore he glorified to spill, And so in every battlefield A hero in my eyes was Bill. Then when the bloody war was done, […]...
16. The Reckoning It’s fine to have a blow-out in a fancy restaurant, With terrapin and canvas-back and all the wine you want; To enjoy the flowers and music, watch the pretty women pass, Smoke a choice cigar, and sip the wealthy water in your glass. It’s bully in a high-toned joint to eat and drink your fill, […]...
17. Sam Goes To It Sam Small had retired from the Army, In the old Duke of Wellington’s time, So when present unpleasantness started, He were what you might call… past his prime. He’d lived for some years in retirement, And knew nowt of war, if you please, Till they blasted and bombed his allotment, And shelled the best part […]...
18. Bill's Grave I’m gatherin’ flowers by the wayside to lay on the grave of Bill; I’ve sneaked away from the billet, ’cause Jim wouldn’t understand; ‘E’d call me a silly fat’ead, and larf till it made ‘im ill, To see me ‘ere in the cornfield, wiv a big bookay in me ‘and. For Jim and me we […]...
19. Dunes WHAT do we see here in the sand dunes of the white Moon alone with our thoughts, Bill, Alone with our dreams, Bill, soft as the women tying Scarves around their heads dancing, Alone with a picture and a picture coming one after the Other of all the dead, The dead more than all these […]...
20. Bill's Prayer I never thought that Bill could say A proper prayer; ‘Twas more in his hard-bitten way To cuss and swear; Yet came the night when Baby Ted Was bitter ill, I tip-toed to his tiny bed, And there was Bill. Aye, down upon his bended knees I heard him cry: “O God, don’t take my […]...
21. Mother to Son Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare. But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there […]...
22. My Dentist Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Wishing that I wasn’t there, To forget and pass the time I have made this bit of rhyme. I had a rendez-vous at ten; I rushed to get in line, But found a lot of dames and men Had waited there since nine; I stared at them, then in an […]...
23. The Little Old Log Cabin When a man gits on his uppers in a hard-pan sort of town, An’ he ain’t got nothin’ comin’ an’ he can’t afford ter eat, An’ he’s in a fix for lodgin’ an’ he wanders up an’ down, An’ you’d fancy he’d been boozin’, he’s so locoed ’bout the feet; When he’s feelin’ sneakin’ sorry […]...
24. A Boy Named Sue Well, my daddy left home when I was three, And he didn’t leave much to Ma and me, Just this old guitar and a bottle of booze. Now I don’t blame him because he run and hid, But the meanest thing that he ever did was Before he left he went and named me Sue. […]...
25. "Birds of Prey" March March! The mud is cakin’ good about our trousies. Front! eyes front, an’ watch the Colour-casin’s drip. Front! The faces of the women in the ‘ouses Ain’t the kind o’ things to take aboard the ship. Cheer! An’ we’ll never march to victory. Cheer! An’ we’ll never live to ‘ear the cannon roar! The Large […]...
26. Saltbush Bill Now is the law of the Overland that all in the West obey A man must cover with travelling sheep a six-mile stage a day; But this is the law which the drovers make, right easily understood, They travel their stage where the grass is bad, but they camp where the grass is good; They […]...
27. Montreal Maree You’ve heard of Belching Billy, likewise known as Windy Bill, As punk a chunk of Yukon scum as ever robbed a sluice; A satellite of Soapy Smith, a capper and a shill, A slimy tribute-taker from the Ladies on the Loose. But say, you never heard of how he aimed my gore to spill (That […]...
28. Buffalo Bill BOY heart of Johnny Jones-aching to-day? Aching, and Buffalo Bill in town? Buffalo Bill and ponies, cowboys, Indians? Some of us know All about it, Johnny Jones. Buffalo Bill is a slanting look of the eyes, A slanting look under a hat on a horse. He sits on a horse and a passing look is […]...
29. Corny Bill His old clay pipe stuck in his mouth, His hat pushed from his brow, His dress best fitted for the South I think I see him now; And when the city streets are still, And sleep upon me comes, I often dream that me an’ Bill Are humpin’ of our drums. I mind the time […]...
30. Death's Way Old Man Death’s a lousy heel who will not play the game: Let Graveyard yawn and doom down crash, he’ll sneer and turn away. But when the sky with rapture rings and joy is like a flame, Then Old Man Death grins evilly, and swings around to slay. Jack Duval was my chosen pal in […]...
31. Bill 'Awkins “‘As anybody seen Bill ‘Awkins?” “Now ‘ow in the devil would I know?” “‘E’s taken my girl out walkin’, An’ I’ve got to tell ‘im so Gawd bless ‘im! I’ve got to tell ‘im so.” “D’yer know what ‘e’s like, Bill ‘Awkins?” “Now what in the devil would I care?” “‘E’s the livin’, breathin’ image […]...
32. Saltbush Bill's Second Flight The news came down on the Castlereagh, and went to the world at large, That twenty thousand travelling sheep, with Saltbush Bill in charge, Were drifting down from a dried-out run to ravage the Castlereagh; And the squatters swore when they heard the news, and wished they were well away: For the name and the […]...
33. My Book Before I drink myself to death, God, let me finish up my Book! At night, I fear, I fight for breath, And wake up whiter than a spook; And crawl off to a bistro near, And drink until my brain is clear. Rare Absinthe! Oh, it gives me strength To write and write; and so […]...
34. You Gotta be Kidding So you think God Soliloquizes to Himself (or Herself, Itself, or Godself For that matter) In front of the Bathroom Mirror? You gotta be kidding! You think God exchanges Conversations with Fellas At a Godly Round Table? You must be joking! You think what you Really think of Him (or Her, Or It for God’s […]...
35. The Booby-Trap I’m crawlin’ out in the mangolds to bury wot’s left o’ Joe Joe, my pal, and a good un (God! ‘ow it rains and rains). I’m sick o’ seein’ him lyin’ like a ‘eap o’ offal, and so I’m crawlin’ out in the beet-field to bury ‘is last remains. ‘E might ‘a bin makin’ munitions […]...
36. Our Two Opinions Us two wuz boys when we fell out, Nigh to the age uv my youngest now; Don’t rec’lect what’t wuz about, Some small deeff’rence, I’ll allow. Lived next neighbors twenty years, A-hatin’ each other, me ‘nd Jim, He havin’ his opinyin uv me, ‘Nd I havin’ my opinyin uv him. Grew up together ‘nd would […]...
37. Psalm 144 part 1 v.1,2 C. M. Assistance and victory in the spiritual warfare. For ever blessed be the Lord, My Savior and my shield; He sends his Spirit with his word, To arm me for the field. When sin and hell their force unite, He makes my soul his care, Instructs me to the heav’nly fight, And guards […]...
38. Mulga Bill's Bicycle ‘Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze; He turned away the good old horse that served him many days; He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen; He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine; And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly […]...
39. Bill and Joe COME, dear old comrade, you and I Will steal an hour from days gone by, The shining days when life was new, And all was bright with morning dew, The lusty days of long ago, When you were Bill and I was Joe. Your name may flaunt a titled trail Proud as a cockerel’s rainbow […]...
40. 414. Impromptu on Dumourier's Desertion of the French Republican Army YOU’RE welcome to Despots, Dumourier; You’re welcome to Despots, Dumourier: How does Dampiere do? Ay, and Bournonville too? Why did they not come along with you, Dumourier? I will fight France with you, Dumourier; I will fight France with you, Dumourier; I will fight France with you, I will take my chance with you; By […]...