TOASTS AND MEMORIES ( To the Men of the 2/5 Gloucester Regiment )

When once I sat in estaminets With trusty friends of mine, We drank to folk in England And pledged them well in wine,

While thoughts of Gloucester filled us— Roads against windy skies At sunset, Severn river, Red inn-blinds, country cries.

That stung the heart with sorrow And barbéd sweet delight At Riez Bailleul, Laventie, At Merville, many a night.

Now I am over Channel I cannot help but think Of friends who stifle longing With friendly food and drink.

“Where’s Gurney now, I wonder, That smoked a pipe all day; Sometimes that talked like blazes, Sometimes had naught to say?”

And I, at home, must wonder Where all my comrades are: Those men whose Heart-of-Beauty Was never stained by War.