My life advances, youth to age; To elder sage, and to despise The children sitting at my feet Who nod their heads and patronise, And listen to my tales of life That they were taught in school. The vision of an older man Long since began to hinder me, As through the fog of failing sight I stumbled; and then suddenly! A lens to aid my ageing eyes And again, I'm twenty-one... The bloody river's running strong, The River Somme, the glory bought By sacrificing hopeful lives - The cannon fodder. Sharp and short Was death upon the poppy fields That ever after grew. And I shouted, "Stop the pounding guns. The river runs, and I am dead!" But Haig commanded, "Battle on!" And with bullets whistling round my head, At the age of only twenty-one I also cried for peace. At the age of only twenty-one I also cried for peace.