Barrack-Room Ballads

By Rudyard Kipling

Born 1865


When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
An' what he thought 'e might require,
'E went an' took -- the same as me!

The market-girls an' fishermen,
The shepherds an' the sailors, too,
They 'eard old songs turn up again,
But kep' it quiet -- same as you!

They knew 'e stole; 'e knew they knowed.
They didn't tell, nor make a fuss,
But winked at 'Omer down the road,
An' 'e winked back -- the same as us!

DayPoems Poem No. 1857
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1857.html">Barrack-Room Ballads by Rudyard Kipling</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

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