Lalage.

This is coolbert:

 From the Internet web site "Bayou Renaissance Man" and thanks to same | January 28, 2023.

"Saturday Snippet: The girl I left behind me"

"One of Rudyard Kipling's poems I've always enjoyed is 'Rimini", named for a city on the upper Adriatic coast of Italy.  It tells of a Roman legionary who remembers, after a long service career, the girl he left behind him to join the Legions.  (You can read the Kipling Society's analysis of the poem here.)"

I think many modern servicemen will nod their heads in recognition of the sentiments the legionary expresses - but then, Kipling is a poet that many servicemen have taken to heart.  He understood fighting men, and expressed that very well in his writing and poetry.

The American soldier/sailor/airman/marine during numerous overseas adventures at various points in time [during a slightly over one-hundred year period and continuing] perhaps best of all to appreciate the sentiments as expressed by Kipling. The American soldier/sailor/airman/marine since the time of World War One able to engage in his craft and trade as no other military man has since the time pf the Roman Empire!

"When I left Rome for Lalage’s sake

She vowed her heart was mine to take

With me and my shield to Rimini—

(Till the Eagles flew from Rimini—)

And I’ve tramped Britain, and I’ve tramped Gaul,

And the Pontic shore where the snow-flakes fall

As white as the neck of Lalage—

(As cold as the heart of Lalage!)

And I’ve lost Britain, and I’ve lost Gaul,

And I’ve lost Rome and, worst of all,

I’ve lost Lalage!

[....]

Devoted readers to the blog read the remainder of the poem for yourselves!

coolbert.