The Old Corporal
Le vieux Caporal.
All loaded, Comrades? forward ho!
Quick, shoulder arms — time's up — let's go:
My pipe's alight — embraces past —
Come, give me my discharge at last
A fool I was, so long to fill
My place — but on you youngsters still
You know I've always kept a father's eye, at drill
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
A snobbish sub upon me fell —
I cut him down — he soon got well:
Court-martialed — all in order — I,
I, poor old corporal, must die!
Passion and drink my arm had nerved;
No, not for worlds could it have swerved —
Besides, lads, in his day the Emperor I had served!
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
Conscripts you'll scarcely hail the loss
Of leg or arm, for Honor's cross;
But mine in those great wars I earned
Where kings we topsy-turvy turned
To stand a drink you'd never fail,
When of our fights I'd tell some tale —
Pshaw, comrades, 'tis n't much that glory can avail!
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
Robin, my village lad, go back,
Thy sheep at home thy tending lack.
And see — these gardens — mark their shade —
April, with us, more flowers displayed:
Oft in our woods, through morning's dew,
I've tracked and brought fresh charms to view —
Good God! and just to think, my mother's living too
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
What sobs are those? who's peeping through?
The drummer's widow? ah! is't you?
Through Russia, at the rear, in flight
Her boy I carried, day and night:
Mother and son, without my care,
Had, like the father, frozen there —
Poor widow, for my soul she'll mutter many a prayer.
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
Why, zounds, my pipe's out — no, not quite —
There's still a spark — all right, all right!
Come, here's the hollow square — but no,
No bandage o'er these eyes shall go!
I'm vexed that such a job 's before you —
But shoot well up, friends, I implore you,
So to your native homes may Heaven in time restore you!
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
All loaded, Comrades? forward ho!
Quick, shoulder arms — time's up — let's go:
My pipe's alight — embraces past —
Come, give me my discharge at last
A fool I was, so long to fill
My place — but on you youngsters still
You know I've always kept a father's eye, at drill
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
A snobbish sub upon me fell —
I cut him down — he soon got well:
Court-martialed — all in order — I,
I, poor old corporal, must die!
Passion and drink my arm had nerved;
No, not for worlds could it have swerved —
Besides, lads, in his day the Emperor I had served!
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
Conscripts you'll scarcely hail the loss
Of leg or arm, for Honor's cross;
But mine in those great wars I earned
Where kings we topsy-turvy turned
To stand a drink you'd never fail,
When of our fights I'd tell some tale —
Pshaw, comrades, 'tis n't much that glory can avail!
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
Robin, my village lad, go back,
Thy sheep at home thy tending lack.
And see — these gardens — mark their shade —
April, with us, more flowers displayed:
Oft in our woods, through morning's dew,
I've tracked and brought fresh charms to view —
Good God! and just to think, my mother's living too
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
What sobs are those? who's peeping through?
The drummer's widow? ah! is't you?
Through Russia, at the rear, in flight
Her boy I carried, day and night:
Mother and son, without my care,
Had, like the father, frozen there —
Poor widow, for my soul she'll mutter many a prayer.
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
Why, zounds, my pipe's out — no, not quite —
There's still a spark — all right, all right!
Come, here's the hollow square — but no,
No bandage o'er these eyes shall go!
I'm vexed that such a job 's before you —
But shoot well up, friends, I implore you,
So to your native homes may Heaven in time restore you!
Steady, Conscripts, steady —
Tut! lads, never weep —
Don't be crying, Conscripts —
Mind the step you keep!
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