They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined – just as found:
His landmark is a kopje-crest
That breaks the veldt around;
And foreign constellations west
Each night above his mound.
Young Hodge the Drummer never knew –
Fresh from his Wessex home –
The meaning of the broad Karoo,
The Bush, the dusty loam,
And why uprose to nightly view
Strange stars amid the gloam.
Yet portion of that unknown plain
Will Hodge forever be;
His homely Northern breast and brain
Grow to some Southern tree,
And strange-eyed constellation reign
His stars eternally.
I travelled among unknown men
In lands beyond the sea;
Nor, England! did I know till then
What love I bore to thee.
'Tis past, that melancholy dream!
Nor will I quit thy shore
A second time; for still I seem
To love thee more and more.
Among thy mountains did I feel
The joy of my desire;
And she I cherished turned her wheel
Beside an English fire.
Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed,
The bowers where Lucy played;
And thine too is the last green field
That Lucy's eyes surveyed.
It was a’ for our rightfu’ king
We left fair Scotland’s strand；
It was a’ for our rightfu’ king,
We e’er saw Irish land, my dear,
We e’er saw Irish land．
Now a’ is done that men can do,
And a’ is done in vain：
My love and Native Land fareweel,
For I maun* cross the main, my dear,
For I maun cross the main．
He turn’d him right and round about,
Upon the Irish shore,
And gae* his bridle reins a shake,
With, adieu* for evermore, my dear,
With, adieu for evermore．
he soger frae* the wars returns,
The sailor frae the main,
But I hae* parted frae my love,
Never to meet again, my dear,
Never to meet again．
When day is gane*, and night is come,
And a’ folks bound to sleep；
I think on him that’s far awa*,
The lee-lang* night, and weep, my dear,
The lee-lang night and weep．
注：
maun*must
gae*gave
adieu*good-by
soger frae* soldier from
hae*have
gane* gone
awa* away
lee-lang* long long