We’ve finished up the filthy war;
We’ve won what we were fighting for . . .
(Or have we? I don’t know).
But anyway I have my wish:
I’m back upon the old Boul’ Mich’,
And how my heart’s aglow!
Though in my coat’s an empty sleeve,
Ah! do not think I ever grieve
(The pension for it, I believe,
Will keep me on the go).
So I’ll be free to write and write,
And give my soul to sheer delight,
Till joy is almost pain;
To stand aloof and watch the throng,
And worship youth and sing my song
Of faith and hope again;
To seek for beauty everywhere,
To make each day a living prayer
That life may not be vain.
To sing of things that comfort me,
The joy in mother—eyes, the glee
Of little ones at play;
The blessed gentleness of trees,
Of old men dreaming at their ease
Soft afternoons away;
Of violets and swallows’ wings,
Of wondrous, ordinary things
In words of every day.
To rhyme of rich and rainy nights,
When like a legion leap the lights
And take the town with gold;
Of taverns quaint where poets dream,
Of cafes gaudily agleam,
And vice that’s overbold;
Of crystal shimmer, silver sheen,
Of soft and soothing nicotine,
Of wine that’s rich and old,
Of gutters, chimney—tops and stars,
Of apple—carts and motor—cars,
The sordid and sublime;
Of wealth and misery that meet
In every great and little street,
Of glory and of grime;
Of all the living tide that flows—
From princes down to puppet shows—
I’ll make my humble rhyme.
So if you like the sort of thing
Of which I also like to sing,
Just give my stuff a look;
And if you don’t, no harm is done—
In writing it I’ve had my fun;
Good luck to you and every one—
And so
Here ends my book.
Other works by Robert W. Service...
