The March Of The Dead

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G F C Em


[Verse 1]

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The cruel war was over ? oh, the triumph was so sweet!
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We watched the troops returning, through our tears;
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There was triumph, triumph, triumph down the scarlet glittering street
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And you scarce could hear the music for the cheers
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And you scarce could see the house-tops for the flags that flew between;
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The bells were pealing madly to the sky;
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And everyone was shouting for the soldiers of the Queen
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And the glory of an age was passing by


[Verse 2]

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And then there came a shadow, swift and sudden, dark and drear;
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The bells were silent, not an echo stirred
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The flags were drooping sullenly, the men forgot to cheer;
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We waited, and we never spoke a word
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The sky grew darker, darker, till from out the gloomy rack
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There came a voice that checked the heart with dread:
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"Tear down, tear down your bunting now, and hang up sable black;
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They are coming? it's the Army of the Dead."


[Verse 3]

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They were coming, they were coming, gaunt and ghastly, sad and slow
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They were coming, all the crimson wrecks of pride;
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With faces seared, and cheeks red smeared, and haunting eyes of woe
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And clotted holes the khaki couldn't hide
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Oh, the clammy brow of anguish! the livid, foam-flecked lips!
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The reeling ranks of ruin swept along!
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The limb that trailed, the hand that failed, the bloody finger tips
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And oh, the dreary rhythm of their song!


[Verse 4]

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"They left us on the veldt-side, but we felt we couldn't stop
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On this, our England's crowning festal day;
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We're the men of Magersfontein, we're the men of Spoin Kop
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Colenso? we're the men who had to pay
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We're the men who paid the blood-price
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Shall the grave be all our gain?
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You owe us. Long and heavy is the score
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Then cheer us for our glory now, and cheer us for our pain
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And cheer us as you never cheered before."


[Verse 5]

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The folks were white and stricken, each tongue seemed weighed with lead;
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Each heart was clutched in hollow hand of ice;
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And every eye was staring at the horror of the dead
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The pity of the men who paid the price
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They were come, were come to mock us, in the first flush of our peace;
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Through writhing lips their teeth were all agleam;
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They were coming in their thousands? oh, would they never cease!
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I closed my eyes and then ? it was a dream
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I  closed my eyes and then ? it was a dream


[Verse 6]

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There was triumph, triumph, triumph down the scarlet gleaming street;
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The town was mad; a man was like a boy
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A thousand flags were flaming where the sky and city meet;
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A thousand bells were thundering the joy
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There was music, mirth and sunshine, but some eyes shone with regret;
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And while we stun with cheers our homing braves
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O God, in Thy great mercy, let us nevermore forget
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The graves they left behind, the bitter graves
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The graves they left behind, the bitter graves