<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">Three Battles</h1><h1 align="" class="head">To the 51st Division</h1><h1 align="" class="head">HIGH WOOD, <em>July-August</em> 1916</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">OH gay were we in spirit</p><p class="line">In the hours of the night</p><p class="line">When we lay in rest by Albert</p><p class="line">And waited for the fight;</p><p class="line">Gay and gallant were we</p><p class="line">On the day that we set forth.</p><p class="line">But broken, broken, broken</p><p class="line">Is the valour of the North.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The wild warpipes were calling,</p><p class="line">Our hearts were blithe and free</p><p class="line">When we went up the valley</p><p class="line">To the death we could not see.</p><p class="line">Clear lay the wood before us</p><p class="line">In the clear summer weather,</p><p class="line">But broken, broken, broken</p><p class="line">Are the sons of the heather.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">In the cold of the morning,</p><p class="line">In the burning of the day,</p><p class="line">The thin lines stumbled forward,</p><p class="line">The dead and dying lay.</p><p class="line">By the unseen death that caught us</p><p class="line">By the bullets' raging hail</p><p class="line">Broken, broken, broken</p><p class="line">Is the pride of the Gael.</p></div><h1 align="" class="head">BEAUMONT-HAMEL, <em>November</em> 16<em>th,</em> 1916</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">BUT the North shall arise</p><p class="line">Yet again in its strength;</p><p class="line">Blood calling for blood</p><p class="line">Shall be feasted at length.</p><p class="line">For the dead men that lie</p><p class="line">Underneath the hard skies,</p><p class="line">For battle, for vengeance</p><p class="line">The North shall arise.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">In the cold of the morning</p><p class="line">A grey mist was drawn</p><p class="line">Over the waves</p><p class="line">That went up in the dawn,</p><p class="line">Went up like the waves</p><p class="line">Of the wild Northern sea;</p><p class="line">For the North has arisen.</p><p class="line">The North has broke free.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Ghosts of the heroes</p><p class="line">That died in the wood.</p><p class="line">Looked on the killing</p><p class="line">And saw it was good.</p><p class="line">Far over the hillsides</p><p class="line">They saw in their dream</p><p class="line">The kilted men charging,</p><p class="line">The bayonets gleam.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">By the cries we had heard,</p><p class="line">By the things we had seen,</p><p class="line">By the vengeance we took</p><p class="line">In the bloody ravine,</p><p class="line">By the men that we slew</p><p class="line">In the mud and the rain,</p><p class="line">The pride of the North</p><p class="line">Has arisen again.</p></div><h1 align="" class="head">Victory and Failure</h1><h1 align="" class="head">Arras, <em>April</em> 9<em>th</em><br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/> ROEUX, <em>April</em> 23<em>rd,</em> 1917</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">NOT for the day of victory</p><p class="line">I mourn I was not there,</p><p class="line">The hard fierce rush of slaying men,</p><p class="line">The hands up in the air,</p><p class="line">But for the torn ranks struggling on</p><p class="line">The old brave hopeless way,</p><p class="line">The broken charge, the slow retreat.</p><p class="line">And I so far away.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">And listening to the tale of Roeux</p><p class="line">I think I see again</p><p class="line">The steady grim despairing ranks,</p><p class="line">The courage and the pain,</p><p class="line">The bodies of my friends that lie</p><p class="line">Unburied in the dew--</p><p class="line">Oh! friends of mine, and I not there</p><p class="line">To die along with you.</p></div></body></html> · Great War