Rhymes of the Rookies: Sunny Side of Soldier ServiceChristian, W. E.
History
Rhymes of the Rookies: Sunny Side of Soldier Service
Christian, W. E.
Soldiers -- Poetry; Spanish-American War, 1898 -- Poetry; World War, 1914-1918 -- Poetry
To old Satan Texas was given
By the Lord who lives in Heaven,
And the Devil quoth "I've got what's needed
To make a good Hell," and he succeeded.
He put sharp thorns all over the trees,
And mixed up sand with millions of fleas;
He scattered tarantulas along the roads,
Puts thorns on cactus, and horns on toads.
He lengthened the horns of the Texas steers,
And put an addition to the rabbit's ears;
He put a little devil in the bronco steed,
And poisoned the feet of the centipede.
The rattlesnake bites, the scorpion stings,
The mosquitos delight with their, buzzing wings;
The sand burs prevail, and so do the ants,
And those who sit down, need half-soles in their pants.
The heat in the summer is one hundred and ten,
Too hot for the Devil and too hot for the men;
The wild boar roams thru the back chaparral,
'Tis a hell of a place that he picked for a hell.
O'REILLY'S GONE TO HELL
O'Reilly was a soldier man, the pride of Battery "B."
In all the blooming regiment no better man than he;
The ranking duty Non Com., he knew his business well,
But since he's tumbled down the pole, O'Reilly's gone to Hell.
Chorus:
O'Reilly's gone to Hell, since down the pole he fell.
They drank up all the bug juice the whiskey man would sell.
They ran him in the mill. They've got him in there still.
His bob tail's coming back by mail, O'Reilly's gone to Hell.
2.
O'Reilly hit the bottle after six years up the pole,
He blew himself at Casey's place and then went in the hole,
He drank with all the rookies and saved his face as well.
The whole outfit is on the bum, O'Reilly's gone to Hell.
Chorus:
3.
O'Reilly swiped a blanket and shoved it up I hear;
He shoved it for a dollar and invested that in beer,
He licked a coffee cooler because he said he'd tell,
He's ten days absent without leave, O'Reilly's gone to Hell.
Chorus:
4.
They'll try him by Court Martial, he'll never get a chance
To tell them how his mother died or some such song and dance.
He'll soon be in Company "Q" a-sleeping in a cell
A big red "P" stamped on his back, O'Reilly's gone to Hell.
ON THE "BORDER"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account