War, the Liberator, and Other Pieces/Beaumont-Hamel

​BEAUMONT-HAMEL

Captured, November 16th, 1916

1DEAD men at BeaumontIn the mud and rain,You that were so warm once,Flesh and blood and brain,You’ve made an end of dying,Hurts and cold and crying,And all but quiet lyingEaseful after pain.
2Dead men at Beaumont,Do you dream at allWhen the leaves of summerRipen to their fall? ​Will you walk the heather,Feel the Northern weather,Wind and sun together,Hear the grouse-cock call?
3Maybe in the night-timeA shepherd boy will seeDead men, and ghastly,Kilted to the knee,Fresh from new blood-shedding,With airy footsteps treading,Hill and field and steading,Where they used to be.
4Nay, not so I see you,Dead friends of mine;But like a dying pibrochFrom the battle-lineI hear your laughter ringing,And the sweet songs you’re singing,And the keen words wingingAcross the smoke and wine.
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5So we still shall see you,Be it peace or war,Still in all adventuresYou shall go before,And our children dreaming,Shall see your bayonets gleaming,Scotland’s warriors streamingForward evermore.
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