Said Red-Ribboned Evans

Said red-ribboned Evans:
“My legions in Spain
Were at sixes and sevens;
Now they’re famished or slain:
But no fault of mine,
For, like brave Philip Sidney,
In campaigning I shine,
A true knight of his kidney.
Sound flogging and fighting
No chief, on my troth,
E’er took such delight in
As I in them both.
Fontarabbia can tell
How my eyes watched the foe,
Hernani knows well
That our feet were not slow;
Our hospitals, too,
They are matchless in story;
Where her thousands Fate slew,
All panting for glory.”
Alas for this Hero!
His fame touched the skies,
Then fell below zero,
Never, never to rise!
For him to Westminster
Did Prudence convey,
There safe as a Spinster
The Patriot to play.
But why be so glad on
His feats or his fall?
He’s got his red ribbon,
And laughs at us all.