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Read more poems by Siegfried Sassoon: Siegfried Sassoon Poems at Poetry X.

I knew a simple soldier boy 
Who grinned at life in empty joy, 
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, 
And whistled early with the lark. 

In winter trenches, cowed and glum, 
With crumps and lice and lack of rum, 
He put a bullet through his brain. 
No one spoke of him again. 

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye 
Who cheer when soldier lads march by, 
Sneak home and pray you'll never know 
The hell where youth and laughter go. 


Submitted by Tom Burrows

Added: 14 Oct 2002 | Last Read: 8 Jun 2025 12:03 AM | Viewed: 17141 times

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