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THE ORANGES, by                    
First Line: The serried hosts stood man to man
Last Line: The watchers smiled in glad surprise.
Alternate Author Name(s): Abu Dharr Al-khushani, Mus`ab Ibn Muhammad


The serried hosts stood man to man,
Determined either side to win,
Here Turk, there Ethiopian,
Their battle-field an orange-skin!

And when the armies 'gan to fight
I never saw a sight so sweet;
The duskies put the blonds to flight,
For they had never known defeat.

But then the pale-faced Turks again
Took heart, and rallied to the fray;
They battled back with might and main,
They fought like heroes all the day.

It is the common rule of war
To fill with tears the watchers' eyes;
But this proved the exception, for
The watchers smiled in glad surprise.





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