Barrack-Room Ballads

by Rudyard Kipling

 When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
 He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
 An' what he thought 'e might require,
 'E went an' took, the same as me!

 The market-girls an' fishermen,
 The shepherds an' the sailors, too,
 They 'eard old songs turn up again,
 But kep' it quiet, same as you!

 They knew 'e stole; 'e knew they knowed.
 They didn't tell, nor make a fuss,
 But winked at 'Omer down the road,
 An' 'e winked back, the same as us!