````Three men plunge from the para- `````dos, ````And--their--officer--as well! |NOW, as he flies at their fly- `````ing heels, ````He awakes to his deep dis- `````grace, ````But the yawning pit of his shame `````reveals ````A way of saving his face: ````He twirls his stick to a shep- `````herd's crook, ````To trip and bring one of them `````back to book, ````As though he'd been giving `````chase! |HE got back gasping-- ````"They'd too much start!" ````"I'd've shot 'em instead!" `````said Wren. ````"That was your job, Sir, if you'd `````the 'eart-- ````But it wouldn't 've been you, `````then. ````I pray my Lord I may live to see ````A firing-party in front o' them `````three!" ````(That's what he said to the `````men.) |NOW, Joy and Wren, of `````Company B, ````Are a favourite firm of mine; ````And the way they reinforced A, ````C, and D ````Was, perhaps, not unduly fine; ````But it meant a good deal both to ````Wren and Joy-- ````That grim, gaunt man, but that `````desperate boy!-- ````And it didn't weaken the Line. |NOT a bad effort of yours, `````my lad," ````The Major deigned to declare. ````"My Sergeant's plan, Sir"-- ````"And that's not bad-- ````But you've lost that ribbon `````you wear?" ````"It--must have been eaten away `````by the Gas!" ````"Well--ribbons are ribbons-- `````but don't be an ass! ````It's better to do than dare." |DARE! He has dared to de- `````sert his post-- ````But he daren't acknowledge `````his sin! ````He has dared to face Wren with `````a lying boast-- ````But Wren is not taken in. ````None sings his praises so long `````and loud-- ````With look so loving and loyal `````and proud! ````But the boy sees under his `````skin. |DAILY and gaily he wrote to `````his wife, ````Who had dropped the beati- `````fied droll ````And was writing to him on the ````Meaning of Life ````And the Bonds between Body `````and Soul. ````Her courage was high--though `````she mentioned its height; ````She was putting upon her the ````Armour of Light-- ````Including her aureole! |BUT never a helm had the lad `````we know, ````As he went on his nightly raids ````With a brace of his Blighters, an ````N. G O. ````And a bagful of hand-grenades ````And the way he rattled and `````harried the Hun-- ````The deeds he did dare, and the `````risks he would run-- ````Were the gossip of the Bri- `````gades. |HOW he'd stand stockstill as `````the trunk of a tree, ````With his face tucked down `````out of sight, ````When a flare went up and the `````other three ````Fell prone in the frightening `````light. ````How the German sandbags, that `````made them quake, ````Were the only cover he cared to `````take, ````But he'd eavesdrop there all `````night. |MACHINE-GUNS, tapping `````a phrase in Morse, ````Grew hot on a random quest, ````And swarms of bullets buzzed `````down the course ````Like wasps from a trampled `````nest.