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Isandlwana

By John McCrae

Topics: classic

Scarlet coats, and crash o' the band, The grey of a pauper's gown, A soldier's grave in Zululand, And a woman in Brecon Town. My little lad for a soldier boy, (Mothers o' Brecon Town!) My eyes for tears and his for joy When he went from Brecon Town, His for the flags and the gallant sights His for the medals and his for the fights, And mine for the dreary, rainy nights At home in Brecon Town. They say he's laid beneath a tree, (Come back to Brecon Town!) Shouldn't I know?,    I was there to see: (It's far to Brecon Town!) It's me that keeps it trim and drest With a briar there and a rose by his breast, The English flowers he likes the best That I bring from Brecon Town. And I sit beside him, him and me, (We're back to Brecon Town.) To talk of the things that used to be (Grey ghosts of Brecon Town); I know the look o' the land and sky, And the bird that builds in the tree near by, And times I hear the jackals cry, And me in Brecon Town. Golden grey on miles of sand The dawn comes creeping down; It's day in far off Zululand And night in Brecon Town.

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"Scarlet coats, and crash o' the band,..."

Exploring the themes of classic, John McCrae delivers a powerful performance in "Isandlwana"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:John McCrae

"Scarlet coats, and crash o' the band,..." by John McCrae

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

John McCrae

About John McCrae

John McCrae (1872–1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, and soldier who wrote "In Flanders Fields" after the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. The poem became the most famous work of World War I and established the poppy as a symbol of remembrance.

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""Delicta juventutis et ignorantius ejus, quoesumus..."

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