ORIGINAL VERSE.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 March 1916, Page 2

ORIGINAL VERSE.

WHAT WE'VE DONE. The following verses, written by an Australian boy at Gallipoli, have 'been forwarded to us by a New Plymouth ffc.ntle.man, who has a son fighting "somewhere"': We've eaten stew with our fingers, And drunk the juice from the plate, We've tasted mud with the humble spud We're given to masticate. We've shared a bowl with the stranger. Whose face bore a seven days' coat, We've quaffed our tea in which we see Strange bodies bob and float. We've slept in a white-washed barrack, With friends of an uufragrant l<lml. In a. luscious rug, where the sportive bug Was not a stranger to find. We've sat in a. growing- puddle, In our one and only pair: Wild nights we've spent in a leaky tent Where twelve had the floor to share. We drill at an hour which one time Was ours to be seeking beds; We march in rows with a glowing nose And our drowsy, tousled heads. We've'tried our hands at some foundry, When our shirt seemed to need a rinse, 'Twas hung to dry, but the wind was high, And we've never seen it since!] But, bless you, we're not grumbling. What Britons would ever dare, When over the way, in that ghastly fray, We've shrapnel and blood for fare? Come out, you chaps, from your drowsy beds. It isn't all nice, iio doubt, But you'd better die eating English dirt sh£n live ts eat .sauerkraut.