When mighty monsters ruled the world, I grubbed the soil for
roots
And from my cave mouth bravely hurled rocks down upon the
brutes
Then when the mammoth roamed the land, I braved the Ice Age
rigour
And led my fur-clad hunting band against the sabred tiger.
As frozen earth thawed into mire, I watched the snows retreat,
And with the newfound gift of fire, I roasted reindeer meat.
I learned new skills and artistries, and in caves left my
print
And fought marauding enemies with spearheads chipped from
flint.
Around my fires I saw strange stones in molten trickles run,
And flung aside my flints and bones. The Bronze Age had begun!
And later, yet again, I learned to master iron ore –
And as the forge fire brightly burned, I fashioned tools of
war.
Thus, well equipped with iron blades that slew with deadly
ease,
I led my tribesmen forth on raids against our enemies.
In Pharaoh’s ranks, I captured slaves to serve in durance vile
Constructing lofty stone-built tombs beside the River Nile.
I soldiered next in Babylon, in Hammurabi’s day,
When weak Sumeria was drawn beneath his awesome sway.
I strove at Sennacherib’s side ‘gainst Egypt in offence,
Where vast Assyrian armies died of plague and pestilence.
Next warred I as an Israelite, against the Philistines,
When David faced Goliath’s might between the battle lines.
Then in the Trojan War I fought, among that Grecian force
Which through the gates of Troy was brought, inside a wooden
horse!
At Meggido in vain I fought against the Pharaoh Necho.
And then at Nineveh again I heard war trumpets echo.
For Cyrus next I soldiered on, a Persian of renown,
And marched again in Babylon – this time against the
Crown!
At Marathon, I fought and slew fierce Persians by the score,
Until Darius’ force withdrew from Athen’s very door.
With Alexander next I marched on conquests far and wide,
Through lands and deserts dry and parched, though he from
drinking died!
On Roman ships I crossed the sea, with slaves upon the oars,
To smite bold Carthage lustily during the Punic wars.
With Hannibal the Alps I crossed, and fought to conquer Rome,
But when that great campaign was lost, we fought to get back
home.
After brave Hannibal had died, I watched as Carthage burned
And manacled a slave, I sighed as Romeward bound we turned.
I later joined brave Spartacus and fought with great
conviction,
And when the Romans captured us, we died by crucifixion.
Yet, later, an Imperial Guard - a Roman born again -
I ran into the Senate yard and saw great Caesar slain!
In Palestine, a Roman still, my soldier’s trade I plied,
And I was there upon that hill when Christ was crucified.
Then I for Boadicea fought; a woad-blue painted Briton,
Painfully by the Romans taught, to smite as we were smitten!
‘Gainst Hadrian next I fought - a Pict - long after Britain’s
fall
And many a wound I did inflict on those who manned his Wall!
When great Marcus Aurelius died, I marched in deep depression
With bowed head, by his coffin’s side, in Rome’s most sad
procession.
Among wild Goths reborn, I grew, a wild barbarian,
And crossed the river Danube to make Roman legions run!
And then with Attila I rode, among his Hunnish horde,
When all of Europe he bestrode, and into Gaul we poured.
But there the Franks put us to flight; we fled defeated, home,
To learn the Vandals, in their might, had sacked and pillaged
Rome
Then with the Viking and the Dane, I manned the longboat oars
Extorting gold from every thane along the British shores.
And many times I fought and died, oppressor and oppressed,
Until at length, by Harold’s side, I faced the French
Conquest.
And though I died in war forlorn against Norman invaders,
I was again, in time reborn, to join the great crusaders.
Thus now another episode in my career began,
As now with Mongol hosts I rode behind great Genghis Khan.
And later still, I rode a horse through Asia yet again.
This time a warrior in the force of mighty Tamerlane!
At Poictiers and Agincourt I served the English Crown,
And in each battle bravely fought to put the Frenchmen down.
I even fought beside the Turks for some religious scruple,
And helped them in their holy works to take Constantinople.
I next adventured in Peru with Pizarro the Bold,
And saw the great Pacific blue, whilst looting Incan gold.
All through the great religious wars that raged in Germany,
For and against the Papal Cause, I fought most valiantly.
Then, in the English Civil War, I fought on Cromwell’s side,
And at the fray on Marston Moor, with Roundheads I did ride.
Throughout the next one hundred years, I fought for Scotland’s
right,
Until at last, the Highlanders succumbed to England’s might.
I fought in lofty Marlborough’s ranks in Blenheim’s battle
glorious
Against Bavaria and France, and there emerged victorious.
To Canada, with Wolfe I came and fought to take Quebec
But from the Heights of Abraham, I fell and broke my neck.
Throughout the Independence War, I fought with zeal and fun.
A coonskin cap I proudly wore and fired a squirrel-gun.
I joined Napoleon in his war at fateful Waterloo,
And there a wild Scots Grey hussar with sabre ran me through.
At Balaclava’s battlefield, I joined the Light Brigade
And though we knew our fate was sealed, a gallant charge we
made!
Then, In America once more, I took the Southern side
And in that fruitless Civil War, at Gettysburg I died.
I joined King Louis’ royal guard before the Revolution,
But quickly donned the bright cockade upon his execution.
I battled next in Zululand and gave the blacks short shrift,
For I was with that noble band of Welshmen at Rorke’s Drift.
Then, in the war of the Sudan, I heard the cannons boom
Against the treacherous Mahdi’s men, with Gordon at Khartoum.
With Kitchener, I rode the train back through the vast Sudan
And saw the Dervish Army slain at bloody Omdurman.
Back in South Africa once more, I battled yet again,
And fighting this time as a Boer, was killed at Bloemfontein.
For fourteen years, I fought no more. Of Hate, the world
seemed free –
Until the Nineteen-Fourteen War erupted violently.
I fought at Mons, at Ypres, the Somme. At Argonne and Verdun.
At Amiens, Marne, Valenciennes –till World War One was won.
And I recall the cordite pall that filled the muddy trench.
The blood in streams, the anguished screams the corpses and
the stench!
Once more I laid aside my spears and furled within my cloak,
I slept for nearly twenty years - till once again, I woke.
This time it was the Fascist hordes that flames of war did
fan,
At first in Spain they drew their swords, then Deutschland and
Japan.
In Spain the Civil War was brief, but showed how war would be.
I saw the bombing and the grief, the vile atrocity.
And on an Abyssinian plain, I saw weak native ranks
Succumb to Romans yet again – but now they came in TANKS!
And then at last the Nazi beast, unleashed with might roar,
All over Europe spread to feast on blood from shore to shore!
Again I fought in many lands I knew from days of old –
In burning, sun-scorched desert sands, in freezing blizzards
cold.
Once more I fought in Italy ‘gainst a new Roman horde,
But now I fought more distantly with GUN instead of sword.
Once more I beached at Normandy. Again I fought in France.
But now armed with ARTILLERY instead of sword and lance!
And then, with Germany at last brought humbly to her knees,
I crossed the mighty oceans vast to fight the Japanese.
And here I met again the shade of ancient Genghis Khan,
Still wielders of the naked blade – these Mongols from Japan!
But now the clash of steel on steel did but a short time last
And ended in the hellish peal of an ATOMIC BLAST!
Since then I’ve fought in lesser frays, Korea and Vietnam,
The Falklands, then in Kampuchea… the Gulf… Afghanistan…
Alas! My fighting, warrior days are drawing to a close,
For MISSILES are the weapons now, and who can battle those?
At last I draw my final breath - for Man’s unlocked the door
To scientific wholesale Death, and needs my skills no
more!
