TO BE A SOLDIER

She was a girl of sixteen summers
And I was scarcely any older
To see her once was but to love her
To love and cherish and discover
My every thought was only of her
Before I went to be a soldier

It was a time of young confusion
When blood runs hot and boys grow bolder
And all that summer long I chased her
Until she turned, until I faced her
On beds of poppies I embraced her
Before I went to be a soldier

There was a baby born in spring time
I wasn't there to see or hold her
The buggles called and I was sent for
To play the game that blood is spent for
The ancient game that youth is meant for
To be a man, to be a soldier

In foreign fields I've seen the slaughter
Of hot young boys who now grow colder
Where steel and fire burn and blind me
Where only poppies still remind me
Of shinning summer days behind me
Before I went to be a soldier

I close my eyes and see my lover
A child asleep against her shoulder
A child of love who's life we started
When hope was new and open hearted
A time that ever more departed
The day I went to be a soldier

To be a soldier
To be a soldier
A soldier