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!

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Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

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Poems in English 

• The Incurious Bencher by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Hip by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Happy Lunatic by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Frog’s Choice by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Dog and the Bear by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Devil Outwitted by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Coquette by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Captive Trumpeter by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Busy Indolent by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Bowling-Green by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Bald-Pated Welshman and the Fly by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Song by William Somervile by William Somerville
• On Presenting to a Lady a White Rose and a Red on the Tenth of June by William Somervile by William Somerville
• On Miranda’s Leaving the Country by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Mahomet Ali Beg; Or, the Faithful Minister of State by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Liberty, and Love; or, the Two Sparrows by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hunting Song by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hudibras and Milton Reconciled by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hobbinol; or The Rural Games by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hobbinol; or The Rural Games – Canto 3 by William Somervile by William Somerville

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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.

 

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