Through many a busy year of peace
I hoped some day, by way of beano,
To give myself a jaunt in Greece,
Famed land of HOMER (also TINO).
Full oft I dreamed how, blest by Fate,
I'd loll within some leafy hollow
With Aphrodite _tete-a-tete_
Or barter back-chat with Apollo.
Around Olympus' foot I'd roam
(Not being really fond of climbing),
Absorb romance and carry home
Increased facility at rhyming;
Those hallowed haunts of many a god
That nowadays we only read of
Would give my Pegasus the prod
He not unseldom stood in need of.
That was in Peace. And then the War
Sent me to learn within a hutment
What martial duties held in store
And what a sergeant-major's "Tut" meant;
Thence to the trenches, thence a rest,
A route-march to a wayside station,
With (every single soldier guessed)
Greece as our "unknown destination."
I saw Olympus wrapped in snow,
The clouds at rest upon its summit,
But did I thrill or long to throw
My hands athwart the lyre and strum it?
Gazing, I felt no soulful throb,
I only felt the body's inner
Cravings and said, "I 'll bet a bob
It's bully once again for dinner."
* * * * *
"Ex-King Constantino has bought a magnificent chateau called
Chartreuse, situated near Thun Castle. It belonged to Baron von
Zadlitz, a German officer, who is now in the field, and has been
empty since the beginning of the war."--_Evening Paper_.
Well, he will be able to fill himself up on the proceeds.
* * * * *
[Illustration: THE LEAVE-WANGLER.]
* * * * *
[Illustration]
_Father._ "WHAT CLASS DID THEY PUT YOU IN COMING ACROSS?"
_Tommy._ "C 6."
* * * * *