Rhymes of a Red-Cross Man/The Little Piou-piou

The Little Piou-piou[1]

Oh, some of us lolled in the château,      And some of us slinked in the slum;But now we are here with a song and a cheer      To serve at the sign of the drum.They put us in trousers of scarlet,      In big sloppy ulsters of blue;In boots that are flat, a box of a hat,      And they call us the little piou-piou.[2]                Piou-piou.The laughing and quaffing piou-piou,The swinging and singing piou-piou;And so with a rattle we march to the battle,The weary but cheery piou-piou.
      Encore un petit verre de vin,      Pour nous mettre en route;      Encore un petit verre de vin      Pour nous mettre en train. [3]
They drive us head-on for the slaughter;      We haven't got much of a chance;The issue looks bad, but we're awfully glad      To battle and die for La France.For some must be killed, that is certain;      There's only one's duty to do;So we leap to the fray in the glorious wayThey expect of the little piou-piou.                En avant!
The way of the gallant piou-piou,The dashing and smashing piou-piou;The way grim and gory that leads us to gloryIs the way of the little piou-piou.
      Allons, enfants de la Patrie,      Le jour de gloire est arrivé. [4]
To-day you would scarce recognise us,      Such veterans war-wise are we;So grimy and hard, so calloused and scarred,      So "crummy", yet gay as can be.We've finished with trousers of scarlet,      They're giving us breeches of blue,With a helmet instead of a cap on our head, -      Yet still we're the little piou-piou.                Nous les aurons!
The jesting, unresting piou-piou;The cheering, unfearing piou-piou;The keep-your-head-level and fight-like-the-devil;The dying, defying piou-piou.
      À la bayonette! Jusqu'a la mort!      Sonnez la charge, clairons! [5]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ (The French "Tommy").
  2. ↑ During World War One, French private soldiers were commonly known as "Piou-Piou", the equivalent of the British "Tommy". This came from their habit of pilfering chickens, whose cry is represented as piou piou in French.
  3. ↑ Literally "Another little glass of wine, / To set us on the way; / Another little glass of wine / To put us in good spirits."
  4. ↑ Literally "Come, children of the Fatherland, / The day of glory has arrived."
  5. ↑ Literally "With bayonet! Until death! / Sound the charge, bugles!"
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