The Major galloped rapidly across the field of battle

On his trusty horse Berry Hall

Captain January is at it again what a crazy fellow he is

He is no longer a captain

He is a Major now

What is he doing?

He is drawing the shell fire away from our trenches

So that we may regroup

He is still a crazy fellow

I think he likes the war

He treats it as a kind of sport

A shell landed near a stricken farm of fence

For an instant the major’s horse was blinded

But it ran bravely through the acrid smoke

And soon it was jumping the broken obstruction

His father was just as mad

Served during the African wars

Still riding even with a spear wound in his side

Too old for this war otherwise he would have been out there with his son

That is what distinguishes this country above all others

The Major let his horse trot calmly through No Man’s Land

He was looking for Andromeda

But she had already been devoured by a sea monster

 

The author recently found a postcard taken from a painting of Andromeda in a book of military paintings