Skip to content
Linespedia

Funk

Topics: classic

When your marrer bone seems 'oller,      And you're glad you ain't no taller,      And you're all a-shakin' like you 'ad the chills;      When your skin creeps like a pullet's,      And you're duckin' all the bullets,      And you're green as gorgonzola round the gills;      When your legs seem made of jelly,      And you're squeamish in the belly,      And you want to turn about and do a bunk:      For Gawd's sake, kid, don't show it!      Don't let your mateys know it -      You're just sufferin' from funk, funk, funk.      Of course there's no denyin'      That it ain't so easy tryin'      To grin and grip your rifle by the butt,      When the 'ole world rips asunder,      And you sees yer pal go under,      As a bunch of shrapnel sprays 'im on the nut;      I admit it's 'ard contrivin'      When you 'ears the shells arrivin',      To discover you're a bloomin' bit o' spunk;      But, my lad, you've got to do it,      And your God will see you through it,      For wot 'E 'ates is funk, funk, funk.      So stand up, son; look gritty,      And just 'um a lively ditty,      And only be afraid to be afraid;      Just 'old yer rifle steady,      And 'ave yer bay'nit ready,      For that's the way good soldier-men is made.      And if you 'as to die,      As it sometimes 'appens, why,      Far better die a 'ero than a skunk;      A-doin' of yer bit,      And so - to 'ell with it,      There ain't no bloomin' funk, funk, funk.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"When your marrer bone seems 'oller,..."

"Funk" is a quintessential example of Robert William Service's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"Moko, the Educated Ape is here,         The pet of vaudeville, so the posters say,         And every night the gaping people pay         To"

"I have some friends, some worthy friends,      And worthy friends are rare:      These carpet slippers on my feet,      That padded leather ch"

""Black is the sky, but the land is white -         (O the wind, the snow and the storm!) -      Father, where is our boy to-night?         P"

"It's good the great green earth to roam,      Where sights of awe the soul inspire;      But oh, it's best, the coming home,      The crackle"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"Moko, the Educated Ape is here,         The pet of..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.