Robert Service

The were two brothers, John and James,
And when the town went up in flames,
To save the house of James dashed John,
Then turned, and lo! his own gone.

And when the great World War began,
To volunteer John promptly ran;
And while he learned live bombes to lob,
James stayed at home and – sneaked his job.

John came home with a missing limb;
That didn’t seem to worry him;
But oh, it set his brain awhirl
To find that James had – sneaked his girl!

Time passed. Tom tried his grief to drown;
To-day James owns one-half the town;
His army contracts riches yield;
And John? Well, search the Potter’s Field.