II
11 lines✦
p a disconsolate straggling village streetI saw the tired troops trudge: I heard their feet.The cheery Q.M.S. was there to meetAnd guide our Company in ...I watched them stumbleInto some crazy hovel, too beat to grumble;Saw them file inward, slipping from their backsRifles, equipment, packs. On filthy straw they sit in the gloom, each faceBowed to patched, sodden boots they must unlace,While the wind chills their sweat through chinks and cracks.
✦