Kitchener's March

by Amelia Josephine Burr

　　

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Kitchener's March was published in Burr's collection, Life and Living (1917).

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NOT the muffled drums for him ⁠Nor the wailing of the fife. Trumpets blaring to the charge ⁠Were the music of his life. Let the music of his death ⁠Be the feet of marching men. Let his heart a thousandfold ⁠Take the field again! Of his patience, of his calm, ⁠Of his quiet faithfulness, England, build your hero's cairn! ⁠He was worthy of no less. Stone by stone, in silence laid, ⁠Singly, surely, let it grow. He whose living was to serve ⁠Would have had it so. There's a body drifting down ⁠For the mighty sea to keep. There's a spirit cannot die ⁠While one heart is left to leap In the land he gave his all, ⁠Steeled alike to praise and hate. He has saved the life he spent— ⁠Death has struck too late. Not the muffled drums for him ⁠Nor the wailing of the fife— Trumpets blaring to the charge ⁠Were the music of his life. Let the music of his death ⁠Be the feet of marching men. Let his heart a thousandfold ⁠Take the field again!

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