HE waited here among us for a fortnight and a day -- We knew as much before he came as when he went away; 'Twas he that had the dancing eyes, 'twas he that had the smile, And the singing voice you'd follow though it led you for a mile. The shoulders of a sergeant too for all his chin was bare -- A rovin' rangin' soldier lad from God knows where. Christian bred or heathen bred, he left it to our whim -- The bells of twenty parishes could ring for all of him; But, faith, he had a way with him that never came amiss -- No man that wouldn't follow him, no girl he couldn't kiss -- And always with the face of one that's stepping to a fair -- A rovin' rangin' soldier lad from God knows where. He waited here among us for a fortnight and a day -- But here's that luck goes with you, lad, wherever you may stray; And here's that though you choose to tramp through fifty towns or more, The times you'll knock may always be a woman at the door. It's you'll be sure of welcome then, as she'll be sure of care -- Me rovin' rangin' soldier lad from God knows where. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THEY SAY - . by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER WOMEN AND ROSES by ROBERT BROWNING AMERICA (1) by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT LITTLE JESUS by FRANCIS THOMPSON OF A FAIR LADY PLAYING WITH A SNAKE by EDMUND WALLER SPRING MORNING by MAVIS CLARE BARNETT |