“Everything had been new and strange : the lean and ragged foot-soldiers who marched alongside of us, toughened, stained and blasés after months of service; the turmoil of encampment in the dark, with the shrill yells of black drivers, and the hassle and crush of crowding wagons, the twinkle of hosts of camp-fires, and the hot glow of a distant veldt-fire; and, finally the ghostly ride of two miles to water the horses….”

"The H.A.C. in South Africa", by Erskine Childers and Basil Williams, Smith & Elder, (London, 1903), p. 72.
Literary Years and War (1900-1918)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Everything had been new and strange : the lean and ragged foot-soldiers who marched alongside of us, toughened, stained…" by Robert Erskine Childers?
Robert Erskine Childers photo
Robert Erskine Childers 30
Irish nationalist and author 1870–1922

Related quotes

Sinclair Lewis photo
William Empson photo

“Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills.”

William Empson (1906–1984) English literary critic and poet

"Missing Dates", line 12; cited from John Haffenden (ed.) The Complete Poems (London: Allen Lane, 2000) p. 79.
The Complete Poems

Paul Beatty photo
J. Howard Moore photo
F. Scott Fitzgerald photo
Thomas Campbell photo

“On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow,
His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below.”

Thomas Campbell (1777–1844) British writer

Part I, line 385
Pleasures of Hope (1799)

Kanye West photo
Jeremy Clarkson photo

“They were out of ideas after just five miles. The Royal Navy vessel had approached unseen, fired unseen, and simply disappeared”

Jeremy Clarkson (1960) English broadcaster, journalist and writer

I Know You Got Soul (2004)
Context: When the Argentine light cruiser Belgrano was hit by two torpedoes from the snout of Conqueror, a British hunter-killer, the enemy escort ships immediately gave chase. They were out of ideas after just five miles. The Royal Navy vessel had approached unseen, fired unseen, and simply disappeared.

Johannes Tauler photo
Federico García Lorca photo

“Black are the horses.
The horseshoes are black.
On the dark capes glisten
stains of ink and wax.
Their skulls are leaden,
which is why they do not weep.
With their patent leather souls
they come down the street.”

Federico García Lorca (1898–1936) Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director

Los caballos negros son.
Las herraduras son negras.
Sobre las capas relucen
manchas de tinta y de cera.
Tienen, por eso no lloran,
de plomo las calaveras.
Con el alma de charol
vienen por la carretera.
" Romance de la Guardia Civil Española http://www.poesia-inter.net/index214.htm" from Primer Romancero Gitano (1928)

Related topics