into the valley of dearth rode the six hundred

 

Into the Valley of Dearth rode the six hundred

Ads to the left of them, ads to the right of them

Bombarded with stuff, assaulted with tunes

Day after day they beguile those Dragoons

In hope of persuading our brave young Hussars

To part with their cash at all the bazaars

To entice and cajole, to find a new way

Of parting these stalwarts from all of their pay.

“New”, “Special” and “Greatly improved”

Spew out of the cannon their spending to move.

Six hundred rode out, just fifteen return,

Causing their General the greatest concern.

Where brave men had ridden was littered with trash

On which those brave souls had squandered their cash.

 

Back in the city when news it arrived

Did they enquire as to who had survived?

Hell no! They, to a man, checked-up on their stocks,

For war was good business, despite all of its shocks.

Making and selling had made them all rich

Selling and making was key to their pitch.

But what of the men who returned from the war?

“Not out concern, now that they’re poor

The State must take over, look after these men

And re-start recruitment when war starts again.

And we will re-build what was destroyed

To make us more profits, don’t be annoyed.

Tis the ‘Circle of life’, profits in peacetime, but also in strife

Assuring our profits for the rest of our life

A simple arrangement. Peacetime or war,

We are the victors. The losers? The poor.

‘Twas always this way and ‘twill always remain

The ‘Circle of life’ is all about gain”.