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== That Day by Rudyard Kipling ==
(the poem Kipling wrote to commemorate<br> the experience of the 66th Foot at the Battle of Maiwand).
It got beyond all orders an' it got beyond all 'ope;<br>
It got to shammin' wounded an' retirin' from the 'alt.<br>
'Ole companies was lookin' for the nearest road to slope;<br>
It were just a bloomin' knock-out -- an' our fault!<br>
Now there ain't no chorus 'ere to give,<br>
Nor there ain't no band to play;<br>
An' I wish I was dead 'fore I done what I did,<br>
Or seen what I seed that day!<br>
We was sick o' bein' punished, an' we let 'em know it, too;<br>
An' a company-commander up an' 'it us with a sword,<br>
An' some one shouted "'Ook it!" an' it come to sove-ki-poo,<br>
An' we chucked our rifles from us -- O my Gawd!<br>
There was thirty dead an' wounded on the ground we wouldn't keep --<br>
No, there wasn't more than twenty when the front begun to go;<br>
But, Christ! along the line o' flight they cut us up like sheep,<br>
An' that was all we gained by doin' so.<br>
I 'eard the knives be'ind me, but I dursn't face my man,<br>
Nor I don't know where I went to, 'cause I didn't 'alt to see,<br>
Till I 'eard a beggar squealin' out for quarter as 'e ran,<br>
An' I thought I knew the voice an' -- it was me!<br>
We was 'idin' under bedsteads more than 'arf a march away;<br>
We was lyin' up like rabbits all about the countryside;<br>
An' the major cursed 'is Maker 'cause 'e lived to see that day,<br>
An' the colonel broke 'is sword acrost, an' cried.<br>
We was rotten 'fore we started -- we was never disciplined;<br>
We made it out a favour if an order was obeyed;<br>
Yes, every little drummer 'ad 'is rights an' wrongs to mind,<br>
So we had to pay for teachin' -- an' we paid!<br>
The papers 'id it 'andsome, but you know the Army knows;<br>
We was put to groomin' camels till the regiments withdrew,<br>
An' they gave us each a medal for subduin' England's foes,<br>
An' I 'ope you like my song -- because it's true!<br>
An' there ain't no chorus 'ere to give,<br>
Nor there ain't no band to play;<br>
But I wish I was dead 'fore I done what I did,<br>
Or seen what I seed that day!<br>
== External Links ==
