Boots - Rudyard Kipling

[Bombardier]

Poem lyrics of Boots by Rudyard Kipling.

INFANTRY COLUMNS

We're foot-slog-slog-slog-sloggin' over Africa -
Foot-foot-foot-foot-sloggin' over Africa -
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Seven-six-eleven-five-nine-an'-twenty mile to-day -
Four-eleven-seventeen-thirty-two the day before -
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Don't-don't-don't-don't-look at what's in front of you.
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again)
Men-men-men-men-men go mad with watchin' em,
An' there's no discharge in the war!

Try-try-try-try-to think o' something different -
Oh-my-God-keep-me from goin' lunatic!
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Count-count-count-count-the bullets in the bandoliers.
If-your-eyes-drop-they will get atop o' you!
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again) -
There's no discharge in the war!

We-can-stick-out-'unger, thirst, an' weariness,
But-not-not-not-not the chronic sight of 'em -
Boot-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again,
An' there's no discharge in the war!

'Taint-so-bad-by-day because o' company,
But night-brings-long-strings-o' forty thousand million
Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again.
There's no discharge in the war!

I-'ave-marched-six-weeks in 'Ell an' certify
It-is-not-fire-devils, dark, or anything,
But boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again,
An' there's no discharge in the war!

[Zofo]

Kipling has everything here! Anyone who's tabbed can recognise what he's writing about.

[Bombardier]

Right on the mark zofo, as I was reading it (pre posting) It took me right back to my forced marching days rbo;

[Zofo]

Luckily, that period didn't last too long for me! I had a 1 tonne L/R waiting for me pretty soon after trade training!;)

[Reloader]

I like a lot of these older poems, they're very evocative of their times.
I've compiled a couple myself, after some thoughts going around in my head after a visit to Arnhem/Nijmegen/Oosterbeek area in 2002. They're my first and only ones and I was lucky enough to get them accepted by a website in their Remembrance section, after getting up the courage to send them in to their editor. The website is worth a visit and has some poetry relating to modern conflicts:

www.warpoetry.co.uk/index.htm (http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/index.htm)

I would quite like to share them with you all, but I'm a bit reluctant, being the new boy and all, I don't want you to think I'm trying to blow my own trumpet, or make a name for myself. What do you think?

[Bombardier]

Post them mate, thats what the sites all about. Nobody would think that of you or anybody else. :)
Please share them.
Posted this one myself (http://www.militaryimages.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3175) I was a bit reluctant too, but because I wasnt sure if it was any good. ;)

[Reloader]

OK, here goes. This is called 'I DO NOT KNOW YOUR NAME'.

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died

Your uniform, branch of service, it matters not to me
Whether Volunteer or Conscript, or how it came to be
That politicians failures, or some power-mad ambition
Brought you too soon to your death, in the name of any nation

You saw, you felt, you knew full well, as friend and foe were taken
By bloody death, that your life too, was forfeit and forsaken
Yet on you went and fought and died, in your close and private hell
For Mate or Pal or Regiment and memories never to tell

It was for each other, through shot and shell, the madness you endured
Side by side, through wound and pain, and comradeship assured
No family ties, or bloodline link, could match that bond of friend
Who shared the horror and kept on going, at last until the end

We cannot know, we were not there, it's beyond our comprehension
To know the toll that battle brings, of resolute intention
To carry on, day by day, for all you loved and hoped for
To live in peace a happy life, away from bloody war

For far too many, no long life ahead, free of struggle and pain and the gun
And we must remember the price that was paid, by each and every one
Regardless of views, opinions aside, no matter how each of us sees it
They were there and I cannot forget, even though I did not live it

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died.

[Reloader]

This one is called 'I WENT TO SEE THE SOLDIERS'.

I went to see the soldiers, row on row on row,
And wondered about each so still, their badges all on show.
What brought them here, what life before
Was like for each of them?
What made them angry, laugh, or cry,
These soldiers, boys and men.

Some so young, some older still, a bond more close than brothers
These men have earned and shared a love, that's not like any others
They trained as one, they fought as one
They shared their last together
That bond endures, that love is true
And will be, now and ever.

I could not know, how could I guess, what choices each had made,
Of how they came to soldiering, what part each one had played?
But here they are and here they'll stay,
Each one silent and in place,
Their headstones line up row on row
They guard this hallowed place.

[Bombardier]

They were fantastic,emotional and very well written poems mate.
Thanks for posting them sal;
In your poems you focused on the one good thing that comes of war for a soldier, the bond between himself/herself with comrades.
Wonderful and heart jefking stuff, I love it :)

[Reloader]

Many thanks for the kind words, Bombardier.