The Horror of Bad War Poetry

"On came the foe, rushing foe,
As down they fell by hundreds.
'Twas bravery held our men;
They knew they were outnumbered."

"'Hundreds' and 'outnumbered'; Tennyson could hardly have done better than that. But even Tennyson would not have tried to rhyme 'steam and 'submarine', as the author of the following succeded in doing:

"Brave boys, put on steam;
Be ready at the guns, boys;
'Tis a German submarine."

etc., etc.,