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Jessie Pope - Play The Game
Work rating: Low

Twenty-Two stalwarts in stripes and shorts 
Kicking a ball along, 
Set in a square of leather-lunged sports 
Twenty-two thousand strong, 
Some of them shabby, some of them spruce, 
Savagely clamorous all, 
Hurling endearments, advice or abuse, 
At the muscular boys on the ball. 

Stark and stiff `neath a stranger`s sky 
A few hundred miles away, 
War-worn, khaki-clad figures lie, 
Their faces rigid and grey 
Stagger and drop where the bullets swarm, 
Where the shrapnel is bursting loud, 
Die, to keep England safe and warm 
For a vigorous football crowd ! 

Football`s a sport, and a rare sport too, 
Don`t make it a source of shame. 
To-day there are worthier things to do. 
Englishmen, play the game! 
A truce to the League, a truce to the Cup, 
Get to work with a gun, 
When our country`s at war we must all back up 
It`s the only thing to be done!
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