Camp Followers Song Gomal River

We have left Gul Kach behind us,

Are marching on Apozai,–

Where pleasure and rest are waiting

To welcome us by and by.

We’re falling back from the Gomal,

Across the Gir-dao plain,

The camping ground is deserted,

We’ll never come back again.

Along the rocks and the defiles,

The mules and the camels wind.

Good-bye to Rahimut-Ullah,

The man who is left behind.

For some we lost in the skirmish,

And some were killed in the fight,

But he was captured by fever,

In the sentry pit, at night.

A rifle shot had been swifter,

Less trouble a sabre thrust,

But his Fate decided fever,

And each man dies as he must.

Behind us, red in the distance.

The wavering flames rise high,

The flames of our burning grass-huts,

Against the black of the sky.

We hear the sound of the river,

An ever-lessening moan,

The hearts of us all turn backwards

To where he is left alone.

We sing up a little louder,

We know that we feel bereft,

We’re leaving the camp together,

And only one of us left.

The only one, out of many,

And each must come to his end,

I wish I could stop this singing,

He happened to be my friend.

We’re falling back from the Gomal

We’re marching on Apozai,

And pleasure and rest are waiting

To welcome us by and by.

Perhaps the feast will taste bitter,

The lips of the girls less kind,–

Because of Rahimut-Ullah,

The man who is left behind!

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Ten Years After by Graham Rowlands by Poetry In English
• Telescopes In The Square by Graham Rowlands by Poetry In English
• South Africa by Ronald G. Auguste by Poetry In English
• Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. by Russell James by Poetry In English
• Savour Your Life by Ronald G. Auguste by Poetry In English
• Rosslyn To The Prime Minister by Graham Rowlands by Poetry In English
• Writing to Onegin by Ruth Padel by Poetry In English
• Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel by Poetry In English
• Conqueror by Russell Hughes Ragsdale by Poetry In English
• Conversation 4: On Place by Rosmarie Waldrop by Poetry In English
• To A Young Lady. On Her Recovery From A Fever by Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Written In Early Youth. The Time,–An Autumnal Evening by Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Fire, Famine, And Slaughter : A War Eclogue by Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Fancy In Nubibus, Or The Poet In The Clouds by Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Epitaph On An Infant. by Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• What would I do without this world by Samuel Beckett by Samuel Barclay Beckett
• Cascando by Samuel Beckett by Samuel Barclay Beckett
• To a Commencement of Scoundrels by Samuel Hazo by Poetry In English
• The Nearness That Is All by Samuel Hazo by Poetry In English
• The Middle of the World by Samuel Hazo by Poetry In English

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works