The General Elliott

    He fell in victory's fierce pursuit,
    Holed through and through with shot,
    A sabre sweep had hacked him deep
    Twixt neck and shoulderknot....

    The potman cannot well recall,
    The ostler never knew,
    Whether his day was Malplaquet,
    The Boyne or Waterloo.

    But there he hangs for tavern sign,
    With foolish bold regard
    For cock and hen and loitering men
    And wagons down the yard.

    Raised high above the hayseed world
    He smokes his painted pipe,
    And now surveys the orchard ways,
    The damsons clustering ripe.

    He sees the churchyard slabs beyond,
    Where country neighbours lie,
    Their brief renown set lowly down;
    His name assaults the sky.

    He grips the tankard of brown ale
    That spills a generous foam:
    Oft-times he drinks, they say, and winks
    At drunk men lurching home.

    No upstart hero may usurp
    That honoured swinging seat;
    His seasons pass with pipe and glass
    Until the tale's complete.

    And paint shall keep his buttons bright
    Though all the world's forgot
    Whether he died for England's pride
    By battle, or by pot.