“……并将提供守卫血河大桥的细节。”地区命令-通讯线路，南非战争。沙漠突然变了，原始的强光变得柔和，一直到令人心痛的远山像国王的宝座一样矗立起来——杀戮和危险的壁垒——燃烧着，令人惊叹，发光——在天际线的绿柱石和下面酒黑色的平原之间。皇家的盛会结束了，被最后的太阳照亮——蛋白石和玫瑰灰，肉桂，数字，和暗褐色。暮色吞没了密林，星光露出山脊。哨声向纠察队尖声响起——我们在桥上换岗。(很少，被遗忘和孤独，在空金属闪耀的地方——不，不是战斗人员——只有守卫线的细节。)我们溜过强盗棚边的破篱笆;我们降落在无水的沟渠和头顶上的倾斜轨道上; We stumble on refuse of rations, The beef and the biscuit-tins; We take our appointed stations, And the endless night begins. We hear the Hottentot herders As the sheep click past to the fold -- And the click of the restless girders As the steel contracts in the cold -- Voices of jackals calling And, loud in the hush between, A morsel of dry earth falling From the flanks of the scarred ravine. And the solemn firmament marches, And the hosts of heaven rise Framed through the iron arches -- Banded and barred by the ties, Till we feel the far track humming, And we see her headlight plain, And we gather and wait her coming -- The wonderful north-bound train. (Few, forgotten and lonely, Where the white car-windows shine -- No, not combatants-only Details guarding the line.) Quick, ere the gift escape us! Out of the darkness we reach For a handful of week-old papers And a mouthful of human speech. And the monstrous heaven rejoices, And the earth allows again, Meetings, greetings, and voices Of women talking with men. So we return to our places, As out on the bridge she rolls; And the darkness covers our faces, And the darkness re-enters our souls. More than a little lonely Where the lessening tail-lights shine. No - not combatants - only Details guarding the line!