801. Afternoon Tea As I was saying . . . (No, thank you; I never take cream with my tea;
Cows weren't allowed in the trenches-got out of the habit, y'see.)As I was saying, our Colonel leaped up like a youngster of ten:
802. Adventure Out of the wood my White Knight came:
His eyes were bright with a bitter flame,As I clung to his stirrup leather;
803. Adoption Because I was a woman lone
And had of friends so few,I made two little ones my own,
804. Accordion Some carol of the banjo, to its measure keeping time;
Of viol or of lute some make a song.My battered old accordion, you're worthy of a rhyme,
805. Abandoned Dog They dumped it on the lonely road,
Then like a streak they sped;And as along the way I strode
806. A Year Ago I'm sitting by the fire tonight,
The cat purrs on the rug;The room's abrim with rosy light,
807. A Verseman’s Apology Alas! I am only a rhymer,
I don't know the meaning of Art;But I learned in my little school primer
808. A Sourdough Story Hark to the Sourdough story, told at sixty below,
When the pipes are lit and we smoke and spitInto the campfire glow.
809. A Song Of Winter Weather It isn't the foe that we fear;
It isn't the bullets that whine;It isn't the business career
810. A Song Of The Sandbags No, Bill, I'm not a-spooning out no patriotic tosh
(The cove be'ind the sandbags ain't a death-or-glory cuss).And though I strafes 'em good and ‘ard I doesn't ‘ate the Boche,
811. A Song Of Suicide Deeming that I were better dead,
“How shall I kill myself?” I said.Thus mooning by the river Seine
812. A Song Of Success Ho! we were strong, we were swift, we were brave.
Youth was a challenge, and Life was a fight.All that was best in us gladly we gave,
813. A Song Of Sixty-five Brave Thackeray has trolled of days when he was twenty-one,
And bounded up five flights of stairs, a gallant garreteer;And yet again in mellow vein when youth was gaily run,
814. A Song For Kilts How grand the human race would be
If every man would wear a kilt,A flirt of Tartan finery,
815. A Snifter After working hard all day
In the office,How much worse on homeward way
816. A Rusty Nail I ran a nail into my hand,
The wound was hard to heal;So bitter was the pain to stand
817. A Rolling Stone There's sunshine in the heart of me,
My blood sings in the breeze;The mountains are a part of me,
818. A Pot Of Tea You make it in your mess-tin by the brazier's rosy gleam;
You watch it cloud, then settle amber clear;You lift it with your bay'nit, and you sniff the fragrant steam;
819. A Plea Why need we newer arms invent,
Poor peoples to destroy?With what we have let's be content
820. A Mediocre Man I'm just a mediocre man
Of no high-brow pretence;A comfortable life I plan
821. A Lyric Day I deem that there are lyric days
So ripe with radiance and cheer,So rich with gratitude and praise
822. A Little Prayer Let us be thankful, Lord, for little things-
The song of birds, the rapture of the rose;Cloud-dappled skies, the laugh of limpid springs,
823. A Hero Three times I had the lust to kill,
To clutch a throat so young and fair,And squeeze with all my might until
824. A Grain Of Sand If starry space no limit knows
And sun succeeds to sun,There is no reason to suppose
825. A Domestic Tragedy Clorinda met me on the way
As I came from the train;Her face was anything but gay,
826. A Character How often do I wish I were
What people call a character;A ripe and cherubic old chappie
827. A Casualty That boy I took in the car last night,
With the body that awfully sagged away,And the lips blood-crisped, and the eyes flame-bright,
828. A Canvas For A Crust Aye, Montecelli, that's the name.
You may have heard of him perhaps.Yet though he never savoured fame,
829. A Cabbage Patch Folk ask if I'm alive,
Most think I'm not;Yet gaily I contrive
830. A Busy Man This crowded life of God's good giving
No man has relished more than I;I've been so goldarned busy living
831. A Bachelor ‘Why keep a cow when I can buy,'
Said he, ‘the milk I need,'I wanted to spit in his eye
