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1865–1936

Cells

Rudyard Kipling

I've a head like a concertina: I've a tongue like a button-stick: I've a mouth like an old potato, and I'm more than a little sick, But I've had my fun o’ the Corp'ral' s Guard: I've made the cinders fly, And I'm here in the Clink for a thundering drink and blacking the Corporal's eye.

With a second-hand overcoat under my head, And a beautiful view of the yard, O it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C. B. For “drunk and resisting the Guard!”

Mad drunk and resisting the Guard — ‘ Strewth, but I socked it them hard! So it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C. B. For “drunk and resisting the Guard.”

I started o’ canteen porter, I finished o’ canteen beer, But a dose o’ gin that a mate slipped in, it was that that brought me here. ‘ Twas that and an extry double Guard that rubbed my nose in the dirt; But I fell away with the Corp'ral' s stock and the best of the Corp'ral' s shirt.

I left my cap in a public-house, my boots in the public road, And Lord knows where, and I do n't care, my belt and my tunic goed; They'll stop my pay, they'll cut away the stripes I used to wear, But I left my mark on the Corp'ral' s face, and I think he'll keep it there!

My wife she cries on the barrack-gate, my kid in the barrack-yard, It ai n't that I mind the Ord'ly room — it's that that cuts so hard. I'll take my oath before them both that I will sure abstain, But as soon as I'm in with a mate and gin, I know I'll do it again!

With a second-hand overcoat under my head, And a beautiful view of the yard, Yes, it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C. B. For “drunk and resisting the Guard!”

Mad drunk and resisting the Guard — ‘ Strewth, but I socked it them hard! So it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C. B. For “drunk and resisting the Guard.”

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Cells · Rudyard Kipling · Poetry Cove