Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 56. The Day of Battle

"Far I hear the bugle blow
To call me where I would not go,
And the guns begin the song,
'Soldier, fly or stay for long.'

"Comrade, if to turn and fly
Made a soldier never die,
Fly I would, for who would not?
'Tis sure no pleasure to be shot.

"But since the man that runs away
Lives to die another day,
And cowards' funerals, when they come,
Are not wept so well at home,

"Therefore, though the best is bad,
Stand and do the best, my lad;
Stand and fight and see your slain,
And take the bullet in your brain." 

1. More Poems. 18. Delight it Is in Youth and May
2. More Poems. 37. I Did Not Lose My Heart in Summer’s Even
3. A Shropshire Lad. 46. Bring, in this Timeless Grave to Throw
4. Additional Poems. 16. Some Can Gaze and not Be Sick
5. More Poems. 21. The World Goes None the Lamer

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