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Title: Close Up
Author: Gilbert Parker [
More Titles by Parker]
You heard the bugles calling, comrades, brothers,--
"Close up! Close up!" You mounted to go forth,
You answered "We are coming," and you gathered,
And paraded with your Captains in the North.
From here you came, from there you came, your voices
All flashing with your joy as flash the stars,
You waited, watched, until, the last one riding
Out of the night, came roll-call after wars.
Unsling your swords, off with your knapsacks, brothers!
We'll mess here at headquarters once again;
Drink and forget the scars; drink and remember
The joy of fighting and the pride of pain.
We will forget: the great game rustles by us,
The furtive world may whistle at the door,
We'll not go forth; we'll furlough here together--
Close up! Close up! 'Tis comrades evermore!
And Captains, our dear Captains, standing steady,
Aged with battle, but ever young with love,
Tramping the zones round, high have we hung your virtues,
Like shields along the wall of life, like armaments above:
Like shields your love, our Captains, like armaments your virtues,
No rebel lives among us, we are yours;
The old command still holds us, the old flag is our one flag,
We answer to a watchword that endures!
Close up, close up, my brothers! Lift your glasses,
Drink to our Captains, pledging ere we roam,
Far from the good land, the dear familiar faces,
The love of the old regiment at home!
[The end]
Gilbert Parker's poem: Close Up
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