Classic Poem

He waited here among us for a fortnight and a day —
We knew as much before he came as when he went away;
'Twas he that had the dancing eyes, 'twas he that had the smile,
And the singing voice you'd follow though it led you for a mile.
The shoulders of a sergeant too for all his chin was bare —
A rovin' rangin' soldier lad from God knows where.

Christian bred or heathen bred, he left it to our whim —
The bells of twenty parishes could ring for all of him;
But, faith, he had a way with him that never came amiss —
No man that wouldn't follow him, no girl he couldn't kiss —
And always with the face of one that's stepping to a fair —
A rovin' rangin' soldier lad from God knows where.

He waited here among us for a fortnight and a day —
But here's that luck goes with you, lad, wherever you may stray;
And here's that though you choose to tramp through fifty towns or more,
The times you'll knock may always be a woman at the door.
It's you'll be sure of welcome then, as she'll be sure of care —
Me rovin' rangin' soldier lad from God knows where.