The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Guards Came Through and Other Poems, by Arthur Conan Doyle This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Guards Came Through and Other Poems Author: Arthur Conan Doyle Release Date: November 21, 2011 [EBook #38071] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH *** Produced by Gerard Arthus; paksenarrion; Jana Srna; Special Collections, Florida State University; Lilly Library, Indiana University; Brooklyn Public Library; Morris Library, Southern Illinois University and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Book Cover THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH AND OTHER POEMS BY THE SAME AUTHOR SONGS OF ACTION SONGS OF THE ROAD THE WHITE COMPANY MICAH CLARKE THE REFUGEES RODNEY STONE UNCLE BERNAC THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES HIS LAST BOW: SOME REMINISCENCES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES THE ADVENTURES OF BRIGADIER GERARD THE SIGN OF FOUR SIR NIGEL CAPTAIN OF THE POLESTAR ROUND THE RED LAMP THE STARK MUNRO LETTERS THE TRAGEDY OF THE “KOROSKO” A DUET, WITH AN OCCASIONAL CHORUS THE GREEN FLAG, AND OTHER STORIES THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES THROUGH THE MAGIC DOOR ROUND THE FIRE STORIES THE LAST GALLEY THE LOST WORLD THE VALLEY OF FEAR DANGER! AND OTHER STORIES LONDON: JOHN MURRAY THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH AND OTHER POEMS BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE AUTHOR OF “SONGS OF ACTION,” “SONGS OF THE ROAD” LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1919 All Rights Reserved PREFACE I must apologize for the size of this booklet, which can only be justified on the grounds that there is some demand for the contents as recitations. I hope presently to combine whatever is worth preserving in my three volumes of verse, so as to make a single collection. Arthur Conan Doyle. 5 CONTENTS PAGE THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH 9 VICTRIX 13 THOSE OTHERS 16 HAIG IS MOVING 20 THE GUNS IN SUSSEX 22 YPRES 26 GROUSING 37 THE VOLUNTEER 40 THE NIGHT PATROL 44 THE WRECK ON LOCH MCGARRY 47 THE BIGOT 55 THE ATHABASCA TRAIL 62 RAGTIME! 65 CHRISTMAS IN WARTIME 68 LINDISFAIRE 70 A PARABLE 75 FATE 76 THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH Men of the Twenty-first, Up by the Chalk Pit Wood, Weak from our wounds and our thirst, Wanting our sleep and our food After a day and a night. God! shall I ever forget? Beaten and broke in the fight, But sticking it, sticking it yet, Trying to hold the line, Fainting and spent and done; Always the thud and the whine, Always the yell of the Hun. Northumberland, Lancaster, York, Durham and Somerset, Fighting alone, worn to the bone, But sticking it, sticking it yet. Never a message of hope, Never a word of cheer, Fronting Hill 70's shell-swept slope, With the dull, dead plain in our rear; Always the shriek of the shell, Always the roar of the burst, Always the tortures of Hell, As waiting and wincing we cursed Our luck, the guns, and the Boche. When our Corporal shouted “Stand to!” And I hear some one cry, “Clear the front for the Guards!”— 7 8 9 10 And the Guards came through. Our throats they were parched and hot, But, Lord! if you'd heard the cheer, Irish, Welsh and Scot, Coldstream and Grenadier— Two Brigades, if you please, Dressing as straight as a hem. We, we were down on our knees, Praying for us and for them, Praying with tear-wet cheek, Praying with outstretched hand. Lord! I could speak for a week, But how could you understand? How could your cheeks be wet? Such feelin's don't come to you; But how can me or my mates forget How the Guards came through? “Five yards left extend!” It passed from rank to rank, And line after line, with never a bend, And a touch of the London swank. A trifle of swank and dash, Cool as a home parade, Twinkle, glitter and flash, Flinching never a shade, With the shrapnel right in their face, Doing their Hyde Park stunt, Swinging along at an easy pace, Arms at the trail, eyes front. Man! it was great to see! Man! it was great to do! It's a cot, and a hospital ward for me, But I'll tell them in Blighty wherever I be, How the Guards came through. VICTRIX How was it then with England? Her faith was true to her plighted word, Her strong hand closed on her blunted sword, Her heart rose high to the foeman's hate, She walked with God on the hills of Fate— And all was well with England. How was it then with England? Her soul was wrung with loss and pain, Her face was grey with her heart's-blood drain, But her falcon eyes were hard and bright, Austere and cold as an ice-cave's light— And all was well with England. How was it then with England? Little she said to foe or friend, True, heart true, to the uttermost end, Her passion cry was the scathe she wrought, In flame and steel she voiced her thought— And all was well with England. 11 12 13 14 How was it then with England? With drooping sword and bended head, She turned apart and mourned her dead, Sad sky above, sad earth beneath, She walked with God in the Vale of Death— Ah, woe the day for England! How is it now with England? She sees upon her mist-girt path Dim drifting shapes of fear and wrath. Hold high the heart! Bend low the knee! She has been guided, and will be— And all is well with England. THOSE OTHERS Where are those others?—the men who stood In the first wild spate of the German flood, And paid full price with their heart's best blood For the saving of you and me: French's Contemptibles, haggard and lean, Allenby's lads of the cavalry screen, Gunners who fell in Battery L, And Guardsmen of Landrecies? Where are those others who fought and fell, Outmanned, outgunned and scant of shell, On the deadly curve of the Ypres hell, Barring the coast to the last? Where are our laddies who died out there, From Poelcapelle to Festubert, When the days grew short and the poplars bare In the cold November blast? For us their toil and for us their pain, The sordid ditch in the sodden plain, The Flemish fog and the driving rain, The cold that cramped and froze; The weary night, the chill bleak day, When earth was dark and sky was grey, And the ragged weeds in the dripping clay Were all God's world to those. Where are those others in this glad time, When the standards wave and the joy-bells chime, And London stands with outstretched hands Waving her children in? Athwart our joy still comes the thought Of the dear dead boys, whose lives have bought All that sweet victory has brought To us who lived to win. To each his dreams, and mine to me, But as the shadows fall I see That ever-glorious company— The men who bide out there. Rifleman, Highlander, Fusilier, Airman and Sapper and Grenadier, With flaunting banner and wave and cheer, 15 16 17 18 They flow through the darkening air. And yours are there, and so are mine, Rank upon rank and line on line, With smiling lips and eyes that shine, And bearing proud and high. Past they go with their measured tread, These are the victors, these—the dead! Ah, sink the knee and bare the head As the hallowed host goes by! HAIG IS MOVING August 1918 Haig is moving! Three plain words are all that matter, Mid the gossip and the chatter, Hopes in speeches, fears in papers, Pessimistic froth and vapours— Haig is moving! Haig is moving! We can turn from German scheming, From humanitarian dreaming, From assertions, contradictions, Twisted facts and solemn fictions— Haig is moving! Haig is moving! All the weary idle phrases, Empty blamings, empty praises, Here's an end to their recital, There is only one thing vital— Haig is moving! Haig is moving! He is moving, he is gaining, And the whole hushed world is straining, Straining, yearning, for the vision Of the doom and the decision— Haig is moving! THE GUNS IN SUSSEX Light green of grass and richer green of bush Slope upwards to the darkest green of fir. How still! How deathly still! And yet the hush Shivers and trembles with some subtle stir, Some far-off throbbing like a muffled drum, Beaten in broken rhythm oversea, To play the last funereal march of some Who die to-day that Europe may be free. The deep-blue heaven, curving from the green, 19 20 21 22 Spans with its shimmering arch the flowery zone; In all God's earth there is no gentler scene, And yet I hear that awesome monotone. Above the circling midge's piping shrill, And the long droning of the questing bee, Above all sultry summer sounds, it still Mutters its ceaseless menaces to me. And as I listen, all the garden fair Darkens to plains of misery and death, And, looking past the roses, I see there Those sordid furrows with the rising breath Of all things foul and black. My heart is hot Within me as I view it, and I cry, “Better the misery of these men's lot Than all the peace that comes to such as I!” And strange that in the pauses of the sound I hear the children's laughter as they roam, And then their mother calls, and all around Rise up the gentle murmurs of a home. But still I gaze afar, and at the sight My whole soul softens to its heart-felt prayer, “Spirit of Justice, Thou for whom they fight, Ah, turn in mercy to our lads out there! “The froward peoples have deserved Thy wrath, And on them is the Judgment as of old, But if they wandered from the hallowed path Yet is their retribution manifold. Behold all Europe writhing on the rack, The sins of fathers grinding down the sons! How long, O Lord?” He sends no answer back, But still I hear the mutter of the guns. YPRES September, 1915 Push on, my Lord of Würtemberg, across the Flemish Fen! See where the lure of Ypres calls you! There's just one ragged British line of Plumer's weary men; It's true they held you off before, but venture it again, Come, try your luck, whatever fate befalls you! You've been some little time, my Lord. Perhaps you scarce remember The far-off early days of that resistance. Was it in October last? Or was it in November? And now the leaves are turning and you stand in mid-September Still staring at the Belfry in the distance. Can you recall the fateful day—a day of drifting skies, When you started on the famous Calais onset? Can it be the War-Lord blundered when he urged the enterprise? For surely it's a weary while since first before your eyes That old Belfry rose against the sunset. You held council at your quarters when the budding Alexanders And the Pickel-haubed Cæsars gave their reasons. 23 24 25 26 27 28 Was there one amongst that bristle-headed circle of commanders Ever ventured the opinion that a little town of Flanders Would hold you pounded here through all the seasons? You all clasped hands upon it. You would break the British line, You would smash a road to westward with your host, The howitzers should thunder and the Uhlan lances shine Till Calais heard the blaring of the distant “Wacht am Rhein,” As you topped the grassy uplands of the coast. Said the Graf von Feuer-Essen, “It's a fact beyond discussion, That man to man we can outfight the foe. There is valour in the French, there is patience in the Russian, But blend all war-like virtues and you get the lordly Prussian,” And the bristle-headed murmured, “Das ist so.” “And the British,” cried another, “they are mercenary cattle, Without one noble impulse of the soul, Degenerate and drunken; if the dollars chink and rattle, 'Tis the only sort of music that will call them to the battle.” And all the bristle-headed cried, “Ja wohl!” And so next day your battle rolled across the Menin Plain, Where Capper's men stood lonely to your wrath. You broke him, and you broke him, but you broke him all in vain, For he and his contemptibles kept closing up again, And the khaki bar was still across your path. And on the day when Gheluvelt lay smoking in the sun, When Von Deimling stormed so hotly in the van, You smiled as Haig reeled backwards and you thought him on the run, But, alas for dreams that vanish, for before the day was done It was you, my Lord of Würtemberg, that ran. A dreary day was that—but another came, more dreary, When the Guard from Arras led your fierce attacks, Spruce and splendid in the morning were the Potsdam Grenadiere, But not so spruce that evening when they staggered spent and weary, With those cursed British storming at their backs. You knew—your spies had told you—that the ranks were scant and thin, That the guns were short of shell and very few, By all Bernhardi's maxims you were surely bound to win, There's the open town before you. Haste, my Lord, and enter in, Or the War-Lord may have telegrams for you. Then came the rainy winter, when the price was ever dearer, Every time you neared the prize of which you dreamed, Each day the Belfry faced you but you never brought it nearer, Each night you saw it clearly but you never saw it clearer. Ah, what a weary time it must have seemed! At last there came the Easter when you loosed the coward gases, Surely you have got the rascals now! You could see them spent and choking as you watched them thro' your glasses, Yes, they choke, but never waver, and again the moment passes Without one leaf of laurel for your brow. Then at Hooge you had them helpless, for their guns were one to ten, And you blasted trench and traverse at your will, You had them dead and buried, but they still sprang up again. “Donnerwetter!” cried your Lordship, “Donnerwetter!” cried your men, For their very ghosts were guarding Ypres still. Active, Guards, Reserve—men of every corps and name That the bugles of the War-Lord muster in, 29 30 31 32 33 34 Each in turn you tried them, but the story was the same; Play it how you would, my Lord, you never won the game, No, never in a twelvemonth did you win. A year, my Lord of Würtemberg—a year, or nearly so, Since first you faced the British vis-à-vis! Your learned Commandanten are the men who ought to know, But to ordinary mortals it would seem a trifle slow, If you really mean to travel to the sea. If you cannot straf the British, since they strafen you so well, You can safely smash the town that lies so near, So it's down with arch and buttress, down with belfry and with bell, And it's hoch the seven-seven that can drop the petrol shell On the shrines that pious hands have loved to rear! Fair Ypres was a relic of the soul of other days, A poet's dream, a wanderer's delight, We will keep it as a symbol of your brute Teutonic ways That millions yet unborn may come and curse you as they gaze At this token of your impotence and spite. For shame, my Lord of Würtemberg! Across the Flemish Fen See where the little army calls you. It's just the old familiar line of fifty thousand men, They've beat you once or twice, my Lord, but venture it again, Come, try your luck, whatever fate befalls you. GROUSING “The army swore terribly in Flanders.” Uncle Toby. What do the soldiers say? “Dam! Dam! Dam! I don't mind cold, I don't mind heat, Over the top for a Sunday treat, With Fritz I'll always take my spell, But I want my grub, and where in hell Is the jam?” What does the officer say? “Dam! Dam! Dam! Mud and misery, flies and stench, Piggin' it here in a beastly trench, But what I mean, by Jove, you see, I like my men and they don't mind me, So, on the whole, I'd rather be Where I am.” What does the enemy say? “Kolossal Verdam! They told me, when the war began, The British Tommy always ran, And so he does, just as they said, But, Donnerwetter! it's straight ahead, Like a ram.” What does the public say? 35 36 37 38 “Dam! Dam! Dam! They tax me here, they tax me there, Bread is dear and the cupboard bare, I'm bound to grouse, but if it's the way To win the war, why then I'll pay Like a lamb.” THE VOLUNTEER (1914–1919) The dreams are passed and gone, old man, That came to you and me, Of a six days' stunt on an east coast front, And the Hun with his back to the sea. Lord, how we worked and swotted sore To be fit when the day should come! Four years, my lad, and five months more, Since first we followed the drum. Though “Follow the drum” is a bit too grand, For we ran to no such frills; It was just the whistles of Nature's band That heartened us up the hills. That and the toot of the corporal's flute, Until he could blow no more, And the lilt of “Sussex by the Sea,” The marching song of the corps. Those hills! My word, you would soon get fit, Be you ever so stale and slack, If you pad it with rifle and marching kit To Rotherfield Hill and back! Drills in hall, and drills outdoors, And drills of every type, Till we wore our boots with forming fours, And our coats with “Shoulder hipe!” No glory ours, no swank, no pay, One dull eventless grind; Find yourself, and nothing a day Were the terms that the old boys signed. Just drill and march and drill again, And swot at the old parade, But they got two hundred thousand men. Not bad for the old brigade! A good two hundred thousand came, On the chance of that east coast fight; They may have been old and stiff and lame, But, by George, their hearts were right! Discipline! My! “Eyes right!” they cried, As we passed the drill hall door, And left it at that—so we marched cock-eyed 39 40 41 42 From three to half-past four. And solid! Why, after a real wet bout In a hole in the Flanders mud, It would puzzle the Boche to fetch us out, For we couldn't get out if we would! Some think we could have stood war's test, Some say that we could not, But a chap can only do his best, And offer all he's got. Fall out, the guard! The old home guard! Pile arms! Right turn! Dismiss! No grousing, even if it's hard To break our ranks like this. We can't show much in the way of fun For four and a half years gone; If we'd had our chance—just one! just one!— Carry on, old Sport, carry on! THE NIGHT PATROL September 1918 Behind me on the darkened pier They crowd and chatter, man and maid, A coon-song gently strikes the ear, A flapper giggles in the shade. There where the in-turned lantern gleams It shines on khaki and on brass; Across its yellow slanting beams The arm-locked lovers slowly pass. Out in the darkness one far light Throbs like a pulse, and fades away— Some signal on the guarded Wight, From Helen's Point to Bembridge Bay. An eastern wind blows chill and raw, Cheerless and black the waters lie, And as I gaze athwart the haze, I see the night patrol go by. Creeping shadows blur the gloom, Thicken and darken, pass and fade; Again and yet again they loom, One ruby spark above each shade— Twelve ships in all! They glide so near, One hears the wave the fore-foot curled, And yet to those upon the pier They seem some other sterner world. The coon-song whimpers to a wail, The treble laughter sinks and dies, The lovers cluster on the rail, With whispered words and straining eyes. One hush of awe, and then once more The vision fades for them and me, 43 44 45 46 And there is laughter on the shore, And silent duty on the sea. THE WRECK ON LOCH McGARRY If you should search all Scotland round, The mainland, skerries, and the islands, A grimmer spot could not be found Than Loch McGarry in the Highlands. Pent in by frowning mountains high, It stretches silent as the tomb, Turbid and thick its waters lie, No eye can pierce their yellow gloom. 'Twas here that on a summer day Four tourists hired a crazy wherry. No warning voices bade them stay, As they pushed out on Loch McGarry. McFarlane, Chairman of the Board, A grim hard-fisted son of lucre, His thoughts were ever on his hoard, And life a money-game, like Euchre. Bob Ainslie, late of London Town, A spruce young butterfly of fashion, A wrinkle in his dressing-gown Would rouse an apoplectic passion. John Waters, John the self-absorbed, With thoughts for ever inward bent, Complacent, self-contained, self-orbed, Wrapped in eternal self-content. Lastly coquettish Mrs. Wild, Chattering, rowdy, empty-headed; At sight of her the whole world smiled, Except the wretch whom she had wedded. Such were the four who sailed that day, To the Highlands each a stranger; Sunlit and calm the wide loch lay, With not a hint of coming danger. Drifting they watched the heather hue, The waters and the cliffs that bound them; The air was still, the sky was blue, Deceitful peace lay all around them. McFarlane pondered on the stocks, John Waters on his own perfection, Bob Ainslie's thoughts were on his socks, And Mrs. Wild's on her complexion. When sudden—oh, that dreadful scream! That cry from panic fear begotten! The boat is gaping in each seam, 47 48 49 The worn-out planks are old and rotten. With two small oars they work and strain, A long mile from the nearer shore They cease—their efforts are in vain; She's sinking fast, and all is o'er. The yellow water, thick as pap, Is crawling, crawling to the thwarts, And as they mark its upward lap, So fear goes crawling up their hearts. Slowly, slowly, thick as pap, The creeping yellow waters rise; Like drowning mice within a trap, They stare around with frantic eyes. Ah, how clearly they could see Every sin and shame and error! How they vowed that saints they'd be, If delivered from this terror! How they squirmed and how they squealed! How they shouted for assistance! How they fruitlessly appealed To the shepherds in the distance! How they sobbed and how they moaned, As the waters kept encroaching! How they wept and stormed and groaned, As they saw their fate approaching! And they vowed each good resolve Should be permanent as granite, Never, never, to dissolve, Firm and lasting like our planet. See them sit, aghast and shrinking! Surely it could not be true! “Oh, have mercy! Oh, we're sinking! Oh, good Lord, what shall we do!” Ah, it's coming! Now she founders! See the crazy wherry reel! Downward to the rocks she flounders— Just one foot beneath her keel! In the shallow, turbid water Lay the saving reef below. Oh, the waste of high emotion! Oh, the useless fear and woe! Late that day four sopping tourists To their quarters made their way, And the brushes of Futurists Scarce could paint their disarray. And with half-amused compassion They were viewed from the hotel, From the pulp-clad beau of fashion, To the saturated belle. 50 51 52 But a change was in their features, And that change has come to tarry, For they all are altered creatures Since the wreck of Loch McGarry. Now McFarlane never utters Any talk of bills or bullion, But continually mutters Texts from Cyril or Tertullian. As to Ainslie, he's not caring How the new-cut collar lies, And has been detected wearing Dinner-jackets with white ties. Waters, who had never thought In his life of others' needs, Has most generously bought A nursing-home for invalids. And the lady—ah, the lady! She has turned from paths of sin, And her husband's face so shady Now is brightened by a grin. So misfortunes of to-day Are the blessings of to-morrow, And the wisest cannot say What is joy and what is sorrow. If your soul is arable You can start this seed within it, And my tiny parable May just help you to begin it. THE BIGOT The foolish Roman fondly thought That gods must be the same to all, Each alien idol might be brought Within their broad Pantheon Hall. The vision of a jealous Jove Was far above their feeble ken; They had no Lord who gave them love, But scowled upon all other men. But in our dispensation bright, What noble progress have we made! We know that we are in the light, And outer races in the shade. Our kindly creed ensures us this— That Turk and infidel and Jew Are safely banished from the bliss That's guaranteed to me and you. The Roman mother understood That, if the babe upon her breast Untimely died, the gods were good, 53 54 55 56