DANPOLLOCKTHRILLERS.COM /  MEMBER, INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

PATTON'S REINCARNATION POEM





In the previous post I excerpted two quatrains from a ballad by George Patton, "Through a Glass, Darkly," lines that reflected the general's lifelong conviction that his military career actually had spanned many lifetimes.

But the selected excerpt was flawed, metrically and otherwise. To set the record straight, here's the martial ballad in its entirety, taken from the "Official Website of General George S. Patton":

"Through a Glass, Darkly"

by Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me.

And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought.

So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.

In the dimness of the shadows
Where we hairy heathens warred,
I can taste in thought the lifeblood;
We used teeth before the sword.


 






While in later clearer vision
I can sense the coppery sweat,
Feel the pikes grow wet and slippery
When our Phalanx, Cyrus met.

Hear the rattle of the harness
Where the Persian darts bounced clear,
See their chariots wheel in panic
From the Hoplite's leveled spear.

See the goal grow monthly longer,
Reaching for the walls of Tyre.
Hear the crash of tons of granite,
Smell the quenchless eastern fire.

Still more clearly as a Roman,
Can I see the Legion close,
As our third rank moved in forward
And the short sword found our foes.

Once again I feel the anguish
Of that blistering treeless plain
When the Parthian showered death bolts,
And our discipline was in vain.

I remember all the suffering
Of those arrows in my neck.
Yet, I stabbed a grinning savage
As I died upon my back.

Once again I smell the heat sparks
When my Flemish plate gave way
And the lance ripped through my entrails
As on Crecy's field I lay.

In the windless, blinding stillness
Of the glittering tropic sea
I can see the bubbles rising
Where we set the captives free.

Midst the spume of half a tempest
I have heard the bulwarks go
When the crashing, point blank round shot
Sent destruction to our foe.












I have fought with gun and cutlass
On the red and slippery deck
With all Hell aflame within me
And a rope around my neck.

And still later as a General
Have I galloped with Murat
When we laughed at death and numbers
Trusting in the Emperor's Star.

Till at last our star faded,
And we shouted to our doom
Where the sunken road of Ohein
Closed us in its quivering gloom.











So but now with Tanks a'clatter
Have I waddled on the foe
Belching death at twenty paces,
By the star shell's ghastly glow.

So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me.

And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought.
 So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.
*

3 comments:

  1. Paton remembered where the Roman roads were on high ground and was able to surround the Nazis. He also fought a lighting-fast attack, to get into their rear so they had no choice but surrender. He was relieved for slapping a grunt - the slap may have saved his life. Without Patton's history and attitude, thousands more Yanks would have died. Like McArthur - we dumped him in the trashcan of history, except at West Point whre he is a revered genius. When Putin enters Georgia, I want Patton reincanated back with a furious desire to shorten Putin's chain, held aloft by the traitor Don Trump.
    There is nogood reason of Earth why we let Putin live. Cancel his V-card pronto. Huzzah Old Warriors!. .

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon -- I savored your knowledgeable comment. I too am a lifelong admirer of Patton and MacArthur. Would that we had their likes in current command! Patton figures in a major way in my WW2 "what if" thriller, COUNTDOWN TO CASABLANCA." Oddly enough, Donald Trump seems to share our positive fixation on the two generals. He mentions them frequently in contradistinction to our current war-fighters and denizens of the Pentagon. Just saying...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Postscript to Anonymous above: You might enjoy my post on my Casablanca novel and the WW2 thrillers that inspired it:
    https://danpollock.blogspot.com/2014/06/countdown-to-casablancaadding-to-list.html

    ReplyDelete