Hail and Farewell, Anne Higginson Spicer

Hail and Farewell.
by Anne Higginson Spicer.

Dogs barking, dust awhirling,
And drum throbs in the street.
The braggart pipes are skirling
And old tune wild and sweet.

By fours the lads come trooping
With heads erect and high,
I watch with heart adrooping
To see the kilties by.

And one of them is glancing
Up to this window, this!
His brave blue eyes are dancing;
He tosses me a kiss.

I send him back another,
I fling my hand out free.
“God keep you safely, brother,
Who go to die for me.”