While no detail is given of name or rank,
A man of the army had refused,
To allow the return of his wife home.
The reason being given:
That she had been speaking with soldiers.
Possibly the man was under the command
Of Admiral Sir Algernon de Horsay
Who addressed the issue,
At the Isle of White Bench on Saturday.
Drawn to his attention the Admiral
Gave the man some advice.
He explained that ‘every good woman
Has sympathy with soldiers,
Fighting for our country.’
Possibly with a humph, he added,
How French women kiss the soldiers,
When they meet, out on the battlefield –
So he advised the husband,
To make allowances for sympathy,
Provided by his wife.
With perhaps another possible humph,
Of contradiction The Admiral stated
That the wife should not continue to do,
What her husband disapproves of.
The Bench closed the curious case,
In hope that the two estranged
Parties would become reunited.
In the suggestion of some
Underlying story, -
Leads to wonder
What exactly is meant,
By the wife who likes ‘talking.’
With soldiers –
A connotation perhaps?
As the Admiral's judgments,
Pertains to liberalism, in war time,
While conjuring an odd picture,
Of battlefield romance.
by Jamie Mann.
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 30 November 2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered
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