The Field of Battle

On this Remembrance Sunday thoughts turn to those who lost their lives in battle.  While the weapons may change, the carnage left behind on the battlefield remains.  

This extract from a poem The Field of Battle, published by John Galt in 1833 is a graphic description of the realities of war.

"At morn, the soldier from his comrade’s corpse

Startles the camp dog;

And the wounded oft,

To scare the foul birds hov’ring o’er them, lift

Their shatter’d limbs and roll their gashy heads.

And there the sun, remorseless on his throne,

Brings clouds of carnage-flies, that fill the air

With shadowy gloom – a living shower of sound."