Battle of Inkerman; or “There Came a Tale to England”
There came a tale to England,
’Twas of a battle won,
And nobly had her warriors
That day their duty done;
They fell like sheaves in autumn,
Yet ’mid that fearful scene,
Their last shout was for England,
Their last breath for their queen.
There came a tale to England,
Of suffering, want, and woe,
Of the night watch in the trenches,
Of the sortie by the foe;
‘Mid rain, and storm, and sickness,
With no rest, no pause between,
And there was grief through England,
From the humblest to the Queen.
Then wrote the Queen of England,
God’s blessing on her pen.
Oh! tell those wounded soldiers,
Those sick, patient, suffering men,
There’s no heart in England,
Can feel a pang more keen,
That day and night her own lov’d troops
Are thought of by their Queen.
Then rose a shout through England,
From them ’twas wafted o’er,
From those sick wounded soldiers,
And it rang from shore to shore;
From Alma and Balaklava,
And Inkerman it came,
“God bless the Queen of England”
Again we’d do the same.