THE TWO SOLDIERS' TEARS.
(Some way after Thomas Haynes Bayly's "Soldier's Tear.")
When at the porch he turned,
To take a last fond look.
(Human emotion will have way
In Tommy or in Duke.)
He listened to the tramp,
So familiar to his ear;
And the soldier gripped his good old sword,
And wiped away a tear.
Not far from that same porch
A Tommy stood at ease,
But, as he saw, his head braced up,
And he stiffened at the knees.
"Sorry to lose you, Sir!
You've been our friend, and dear!"
That Tommy cried, and with his cuff,
He wiped away a tear.
Both turned, and left the spot,
Oh! do not deem them weak,
For dauntless was each soldier's heart,
Though a tear bedewed each cheek.
As Punch gives hearty thanks,
At the close of a long career,
To the gallant Duke, he also turns,
And—wipes away a tear!