Devotion To Duty

I was near the King that day. I saw him snatch And briskly scan the G.H.Q. dispatch. Thick-voiced, he read it out. (His face was grave.) ‘This officer advanced with the first wave, ‘And when our first objective had been gained, ‘(Though wounded twice), reorganized the line: ‘The spirit of the troops was by his fine ‘Example most effectively sustained.’ He gripped his beard; then closed his eyes and said, ‘Bathsheba must be warned that he is dead. ‘Send for her. I will be the first to tell ‘This wife how her heroic husband fell.’