They died these two &mdash The little boys I knew &mdash One at Gallipoli and one in France.
Long ago &mdash Oh, twenty years or so &mdash They used to romp and
Over the grass, under the trees.
One toddling
Had golden
Fine as a girl's,
And funny little round fat cheeks the other.
They liked me, used to
Into my lap, and
For stories before bed-time, tugging
With little arms and
It seems too short a
For these two to grow
Of body and soul,
Grow into men, and hear the iron call,and give their youth's bright hoard.
Brief was their
As sunlight on a sword.
The poem is referencing the follwing gentlemen:
Maurice Pretyman:
Franklin Remingtone Pretyman: 1893-1917