“The Ballad of Lenin’s Tomb” by Robert William Service

The below extract is taken from “The Ballad of Lenin’s Tomb, a satirical and witty poem by Robert William Service:

“Where Lenin lies the red flag flies, and the rat-grey workers wait

To tread the gloom of Lenin’s Tomb, where the Comrade lies in state.

With lagging pace they scan his face, so weary yet so firm;

For years a score they’ve laboured sore to save him from the worm.

The Kremlin walls are grimly grey, but Lenin’s Tomb is red,

And pilgrims from the Sour Lands say: “He sleeps and is not ...