Norma Preston's request reminds me that Kipling's poem 'The Mother's Son'
(Andrew Dodsworth has the title right and I didn't) is interesting in more
than one way.
First of all, it records the agony of the shell-shocked soldier who
knows his mind will never recover from its experiences in the trenches of
World War I. Secondly, it echoes the old ballad 'The Battle of
Otterburn', which included the lines: 'But I have dreamed a dreary dream /
Beyond the Isle of Skye, / I saw a dead man win a fight / And I think that
man was I.' The Douglas, leader of the Scottish army, was wounded in the
battle and lay down behind a 'braken bush'. The Scots won, but Lord
Percy, leader of the English, refused to yield except to the Douglas in
person. When he was taken to the 'braken bush', it was discovered that
the Douglas had bled to death. Kipling much admired the old Border
ballads and imitated them in several other poems. The shell-shocked
soldier in 'My Mother's Son' is also a victor, but his life is also
effectively over. Lisa Lewis
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|