ng
I saw an old man stand;
His head was proudly held and his eyes kindling,
But the list shook in his hand."_

O wind of twilight, was there no word uttered,
No sound of joy or wail?
_"'A great fight and a good death,' he muttered;
'Trust him, he would not fail.'"_

What of the chamber dark where she was lying
For whom all life is done?
_"Within her heart she rocks a dead child, crying
'My son, my little son.'"_

{88}

_The Grenadier's Good-Bye_

"When Lieutenant Murray fell, the only words he spoke were, Forward,
Grenadiers!'"--_Press Telegram_.

Here they halted, here once more
Hand from hand was rent;
Here his voice above the roar
Rang, and on they went.
Yonder out of sight they crossed,
Yonder died the cheers;
One word lives where all is lost--
"Forward, Grenadiers!"

This alone he asked of fame,
This alone of pride;
Still with this he faced the flame,
Answered Death, and died.
Crest of battle sunward tossed,
Song of the marching years,
This shall live though all be lost--
"Forward, Grenadiers!"

{89}

_The Schoolfellow_

Our game was his but yesteryear;
We wished him back; we could not know
The selfsame hour we missed him here
He led the line that broke the foe.

Blood-red behind our guarded posts
Sank as of old the dying day;
The battle ceased; the mingled hosts
Weary and cheery went their way:

"To-morrow well may bring," we said,
"As fair a fight, as clear a sun."
Dear lad, before the word was sped,
For evermore thy goal was won.

{90}

_On Spion Kop_

Foremost of all on battle's fiery steep
Here VERTUE fell, and here he sleeps his sleep.*
A fairer name no Roman ever gave
To stand sole monument on Valour's grave.

* Major N. H. Vertue, of the Buffs, Brigade-Major to General Woodgate,
was buried where he fell, on the edge of Spion Kop, in front of the
British position.

{91}

_The School at War_

All night before the brink of death
In fitful sleep the army lay,
For through the dream that stilled their breath
Too gauntly glared the coming day.

But we, within whose blood there leaps
The fulness of a life as wide
As Avon's water where he sweeps
Seaward at last with Severn's tide,

We heard beyond the desert night
The murmur of the fields we knew,
And our swift souls with one delig