Great Britain. Army -- Military life -- Poetry; Soldiers -- Great Britain -- Poetry
BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS
First Series (1892)
By Rudyard Kipling
Dedication: To T. A.
Contents:
1 Danny Deever
2 Tommy
3 'Fuzzy-Wuzzy'
4 Soldier, Soldier
5 Screw-Guns
6 Cells
7 Gunga Din
8 Oonts
9 Loot
10 'Snarleyow'
11 The Widow at Windsor
12 Belts
13 The Young British Soldier
14 Mandalay
15 Troopin'
16 The Widow's Party
17 Ford o' Kabul
18 Gentlemen-Rankers
19 Route Marchin'
20 Shillin' a Day
Second Series (1896)
21 'Bobs'
22 'Back to the Army Again'
23 'Birds of Prey' March
24 'Soldier an; Sailor Too'
25 Sappers
26 That Day
27 'The Men that fought at Minden
28 Cholera Camp
29 The Ladies
30 Bill 'Awkins
31 The Mother Lodge
32 'Follow Me 'Ome
33 The Sergeant's Weddin'
34 The Jacket
35 The 'Eathen
36 The Shut-Eye Sentry
37 'Mary, Pity Women!'
38 For to Admire
Dedication
To T. A.
I have made for you a song,
And it may be right or wrong,
But only you can tell me if it's true;
I have tried for to explain
Both your pleasure and your pain,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!
O there'll surely come a day
When they'll give you all your pay,
And treat you as a Christian ought to do;
So, until that day comes round,
Heaven keep you safe and sound,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!
R. K.
Danny Deever
“What are the bugles blowin' for?” said Files-on-Parade.
“To turn you out, to turn you out”, the Colour-Sergeant said.
“What makes you look so white, so white?” said Files-on-Parade.
“I'm dreadin' what I've got to watch”, the Colour-Sergeant said.
For they're hangin' Danny Deever, you can hear the Dead March play,
The regiment's in 'ollow square--they're hangin' him to-day;
They've taken of his buttons off an' cut his stripes away,
An' they're hangin' Danny Deever in the mornin'.
“What makes the rear-rank breathe so 'ard?” said Files-on-Parade.
“It's bitter cold, it's bitter cold”, the Colour-Sergeant said.
“What makes that front-rank man fall down?” said Files-on-Parade.
“A touch o' sun, a touch o' sun”, the Colour-Sergeant said.
They are hangin' Danny Deever, they are marchin' of 'im round,
They 'ave 'alted Danny Deever by 'is coffin on the ground;
An' 'e'll swing in 'arf a minute for a sneakin' shootin' hound--
O they're hangin' Danny Deever in the mornin'!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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