English Poetry. Alfred Edward Housman. Last Poems. 5. Grenadier. Альфред Эдвард Хаусман (Хаусмен).

Alfred Edward Housman (Альфред Эдвард Хаусман (Хаусмен))

Last Poems. 5. Grenadier

The Queen she sent to look for me,
    The sergeant he did say,
'Young man, a soldier will you be
    For thirteen pence a day?'

For thirteen pence a day did I
    Take off the things I wore,
And I have marched to where I lie,
    And I shall march no more.

My mouth is dry, my shirt is wet,
    My blood runs all away,
So now I shall not die in debt
    For thirteen pence a day.

To-morrow after new young men
    The sergeant he must see,
For things will all be over then
    Between the Queen and me.

And I shall have to bate my price,
    For in the grave, they say,
Is neither knowledge nor device
    Nor thirteen pence a day.

Alfred Edward Housman’s other poems:

1. Last Poems. 19. In Midnights of November
2. Last Poems. 14. The Culprit
3. Last Poems. 20. The Night Is Freezing Fast
4. Last Poems. 27. The Sigh That Heaves the Grasses
5. More Poems. 14. The Farms of Home Lie Lost in Even

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