I
They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined--just as found:
His landmark is a kopje-crest
That breaks the veldt around;
And foreign constellations west
Each night above his mound.
II
Young Hodge the Drummer never knew -
Fresh from his Wessex home -
The meaning of the broad Karoo,
The Bush, the dusty loam,
And why uprose to nightly view
Strange stars amid the gloam.
III
Yet portion of that unknown plain
Will Hodge for ever be;
His homely Northern breast and brain
Grow up a Southern tree.
And strange-eyed constellations reign
His stars eternally.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
This poem captivated me from the first moment I heard it! Needless to mention it is one of my favourite ones. The imagery is so poignant and clear... and one can sense the bewilderness of young drummer Hodge who was not a warrior but perhaps a simple villager who has never travelled far from his home before. It brings to mind the futility of war... of mindless loss of innocent lives. Hodge's burial without a coffin still leaves the sense of incompleteness - and he does live on somewhat undead and unsettled in this strange land as part of some new life (like a tree) .