LICHTENBERG

It was all Australia to me

All I had found or missed:

Every face I was crazy to see,

And every woman I'd kissed:

All that I shouldn't ha' done, God knows!
(As He knows I'll do it again),

That smell of wattle round Lichtenberg,
Riding in, in the rain!

I saw Sydney the same as ever,

The picnics and brass-bands;

And the little homestead on Hunter River

And my new vines joining hands.

It all came over me in one act

Quick as a shot through the brain

With the smell of the wattle round Lichtenberg, Riding in, in the rain!

I have forgotten a hundred fights,

But one I shall not forget

With the raindrops bunging up my sights

And my eyes bunged up with wet;

And through the crack and the stink of the cordite (Ah Christ! My country again!)

The smell of the wattle by Lichtenberg,

Riding in, in the rain!

STELLENBOSH

(COMPOSITE COLUMNS)

THE General 'eard the firin' on the flank

An' 'e sent a mounted man to bring 'im back, The silly, pushin' person's name an' rank,

'Oo'd dared to answer Brother Boer's attack. For there might 'ave been a serious engagement,

An' 'e might 'ave wasted 'alf a dozen men; So 'e ordered 'im to stop 'is operations round the kopjes,

An' 'e told 'im off before the Staff at ten!

An' it all goes into the laundry,

But it never comes out in the wash,

'Ow we're sugared about by the old men.

('Eavy-sterned amateur old men!)

That 'amper an' 'inder an' scold men

For fear o' Stellenbosh!

STELLENBOSH

The General 'ad "produced a great effect,"

The General 'ad the country cleared-almost; The General "ad no reason to expect,"

And the Boers 'ad us bloomin' well on toast!

For we might 'ave crossed the drift before the twilight,

Instead o' sittin' down an' takin' root;

But we was not allowed, so the Boojers scooped the crowd,

To the last survivin' bandolier an' boot.

The General saw the farm'ouse in 'is rear,

With its stoep so nicely shaded from the sun;

Sez 'e, "I'll pitch my tabernacle 'ere,"

An' 'e kept us muckin' round till 'e 'ad done. For 'e might 'ave caught the confluent pneumonia From sleepin' in his gaiters in the dew;

So 'e took a book an' dozed while the other columns closed

And's commando out an' trickled through!

The General saw the mountain-range ahead,
With their 'elios showin' saucy on the 'eight,

So 'e 'eld us to the level ground instead,

An' telegraphed the Boojers wouldn't fight.

STELLENBOSH

For 'e might 'ave gone an' sprayed 'em with a

pompom,

Or 'e might 'ave slung a squadron out to seeBut 'e wasn't takin' chances in them 'igh an' 'ostile kranzes

He was markin' time to earn a K.C.B.

The General got 'is decorations thick

(The men that backed 'is lies could not complain), The Staff 'ad D.S.O.'s till we was sick,

An' the soldier-'ad the work to do again! For 'e might 'ave known the District was a 'otbed, Instead of 'andin' over, upside-down,

To a man 'oo 'ad to fight 'alf a year to put it right, While the General went an' slandered 'im in town!

An' it all went into the laundry,

But it never came out in the wash.

We were sugared about by the old men

(Panicky, perishin' old men)

That 'amper an' 'inder an' scold men
For fear o' Stellenbosh!

HALF-BALLAD OF WATERVAL

WHEN by the labour of my 'ands
I've 'elped to pack a transport tight
With prisoners for foreign lands,
I ain't transported with delight.

I know it's only just an' right,
But yet it somehow sickens me,

For I 'ave learned at Waterval
The meanin' of captivity.

Be'ind the pegged barb-wire strands,
Beneath the tall electric light,
We used to walk in bare-'ead bands,
Explainin' 'ow we lost our fight.
An' that is what they'll do to-night

Upon the steamer out at sea,

If I 'ave learned at Waterval

The meanin' of captivity.