Down on the boulevards the crowds went by,
The shouting and the singing died away,
And in the quiet we rose to drink the toasts,
Our hearts uplifted to the hour, the Day:
The King the Army Navy the Allies
England and Victory.

And then you turned to me and with low voice
(The tables were abuzz with revelry),
* I have a toast for you and me ‘, you said,
And whispered “Absent”, and we drank
Our unforgotten Dead.
But I saw Love go lonely down the years,
And when I drank, the wine was salt with tears.