After Court Martial
My mind is not my mind, therefore
I take no heed of what men say,
I lived ten thousand years before
God cursed the town of Nineveh.
The Present is a dream I see
Of horror and loud sufferings,
At dawn a bird will waken me
Unto my place among the kings.
And though men called me a vile name,
And all my dream companions gone,
Tis I the soldier bears the shame,
Not I the king of Babylon.
Probable date of writing 1916This poem taken from "Last Songs" by Francis Ledwidge, Published by Herbert Jenkins, London 1918 page 33-34checked and verified JS