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Rudyard Kipling - Sappers
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When the Waters were dried an` the Earth did appear,
 ("It`s all one," says the Sapper),
The Lord He created the Engineer,
 Her Majesty`s Royal Engineer,
 With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
 
When the Flood come along for an extra monsoon,
`Twas Noah constructed the first pontoon
 To the plans of Her Majesty`s, etc.
 
But after fatigue in the wet an` the sun,
Old Noah got drunk, which he wouldn`t ha` done
 If he`d trained with, etc.
 
When the Tower o` Babel had mixed up men`s ~bat~,
Some clever civilian was managing that,
 An` none of, etc.
 
When the Jews had a fight at the foot of a hill,
Young Joshua ordered the sun to stand still,
 For he was a Captain of Engineers, etc.
 
When the Children of Israel made bricks without straw,
They were learnin` the regular work of our Corps,
 The work of, etc.
 
For ever since then, if a war they would wage,
Behold us a-shinin` on history`s page —
 First page for, etc.
 
We lay down their sidings an` help `em entrain,
An` we sweep up their mess through the bloomin` campaign,
 In the style of, etc.
 
They send us in front with a fuse an` a mine
To blow up the gates that are rushed by the Line,
 But bent by, etc.
 
They send us behind with a pick an` a spade,
To dig for the guns of a bullock-brigade
 Which has asked for, etc.
 
We work under escort in trousers and shirt,
An` the heathen they plug us tail-up in the dirt,
 Annoying, etc.
 
We blast out the rock an` we shovel the mud,
We make `em good roads an` — they roll down the ~khud~,
 Reporting, etc.
 
We make `em their bridges, their wells, an` their huts,
An` the telegraph-wire the enemy cuts,
 An` it`s blamed on, etc.
 
An` when we return, an` from war we would cease,
They grudge us adornin` the billets of peace,
 Which are kept for, etc.
 
We build `em nice barracks — they swear they are bad,
That our Colonels are Methodist, married or mad,
 Insultin`, etc.
 
They haven`t no manners nor gratitude too,
For the more that we help `em, the less will they do,
 But mock at, etc.
 
Now the Line`s but a man with a gun in his hand,
An` Cavalry`s only what horses can stand,
 When helped by, etc.
 
Artillery moves by the leave o` the ground,
But ~we~ are the men that do something all round,
 For ~we~ are, etc.
 
I have stated it plain, an` my argument`s thus
 ("It`s all one," says the Sapper),
There`s only one Corps which is perfect — that`s us;
 An` they call us Her Majesty`s Engineers,
 Her Majesty`s Royal Engineers,
 With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
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