Preview edition — Poet in the Battlefield is still in progress. The poem is as it appears in the video; the commentary is a working draft.
Hero, wakeup amidst the scenes of triumph won and on
Our numbers holding strong, the battle, more than done
Comrades cheered so well and songs of victory were in uproar to dwell
Where fields of fear once gripped, joy had risen from tired knees
Our ranks united, our spirit soars high to bear our prayerful needs
Through the night of victory our work was done,
Now brethren can rest till the rising sun.
To our camps so rewarding now we retreat, and under the stars our well-earned sleep will be sweet
Poet in the Battlefield · Hear it on the channel ↗
Commentary
This eight-line poem is a victory told the morning after. The battle is over, the comrades are singing, and the short, rhymed lines move from waking up to lying down again, like one long exhale.
The poem opens with a call to a hero to “wakeup amidst the scenes of triumph won and on.” “Our numbers” are “holding strong,” the battle is “more than done,” and the comrades cheer with “songs of victory” in an uproar.
Fear gives way to joy: “Where fields of fear once gripped, joy had risen from tired knees.” The soldiers stand united, their spirit rising “to bear our prayerful needs,” which turns the victory into something close to a prayer of thanks.
The work of the night is finished, and “brethren can rest till the rising sun.” The last line carries the army back “to our camps so rewarding,” where “under the stars our well-earned sleep will be sweet.”