The Surprise

Item

The Surprise

THEY thought they had left him lying well-

nigh dead,

So many javelins had been cast at him.

So many dinting blows

Upon his casque and cataphract had rung,

So many stones had with shrill whirr been

slung.

But whole of heart and limb,

At day droop he uplifted his prone head,

Propped him upon an elbow—suddenly rose—

Woke his lulled sword and the vain scabbard

shed,

Struck out at all his foes,

And got him victory ere the day was sped.

Title
The Surprise
Identifier
greatwar_watsonretro014
Item sets
Retrogression and Other Poems
Media
<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Surprise</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">THEY thought they had left him lying well-</p><p class="line">nigh dead,</p><p class="line">So many javelins had been cast at him.</p><p class="line">So many dinting blows</p><p class="line">Upon his casque and cataphract had rung,</p><p class="line">So many stones had with shrill whirr been</p><p class="line">slung.</p><p class="line">But whole of heart and limb,</p><p class="line">At day droop he uplifted his prone head,</p><p class="line">Propped him upon an elbow—suddenly rose—</p><p class="line">Woke his lulled sword and the vain scabbard</p><p class="line">shed,</p><p class="line">Struck out at all his foes,</p><p class="line">And got him victory ere the day was sped.</p></div></body></html>