Verse
The following verses by Sir Mortimer Durand appeared in India shortly after Hodson's death:
I rode to Delhi with Hodson: there were three of my Father's sons;
Two of them died at the foot of the ridge, in the line of the Mori's guns.
I followed him on when the great town fell; he was cruel and cold they said:
The men were sobbing around the day that I saw him dead.
It is not soft words that a soldier wants; we know what he was in fight;
And we love the man that can lead us, ay, though his face be white.
And when the time shall come, sahib, as come full well it may,
When all things are not fair and bright, as all things seem today,
When foes are rising round you fast, and friends are few and cold
And half a yard of trusty steel is worth a prince's gold
Remember Hodson trusted us, and trust the old blood too,
And as we followed him - to death - our sons will follow you.
Read more about this topic: William Stephen Raikes Hodson
Famous quotes containing the word verse:
“In verse one can take any damn constant one likes, one can alliterate, or assone, or rhyme, or quant, or smack, only one MUST leave the other elements irregular.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)