THIS FOR REMEMBRANCE.
[The Government is reported to have three million empty rum jars for sale.]
I've long mused on buying a rifle,
A chunk of an aeroplane's gear
Or other belligerent trifle
By way of a small souvenir;
I've thought 'twould be fine (and your pardon
I beg if this savours of swank)
If the grotto that graces my garden
Were topped by a tank.
But only this morn I decided
Exactly the thing I preferred
To call back the prodigies I did
When the call for fatigue men was heard;
Though my life is again a civilian's,
Martial glories shall come back to view
If I buy from these derelict millions
A rum jar or two.
Though the spirit's long since been a "goner,"
Though the uttermost heel-tap be drained,
I will give them a place of high honour,
Well knowing that once they contained
My solace when seasons were rotten,
When the cold put my courage to flight,
Or the sergeant, perchance, had forgotten
To kiss me good-night.
In a world that is apt to be trying,
When things are inclined to go ill
And I'm sitting despondently sighing,
Perhaps they will comfort me still;
At the sight of these humble mementoes
It may be once more I shall know
From the crown of my head to my ten toes
That radiant glow.