Old Soldier Poem by Francis Duggan

As a young man of twenty to me he did say
I went off to fight in a war far away
To fight against soldiers we were made to believe were our foe
This is going back in time many Seasons ago

I was very young then close to my life's prime
But like many old soldiers i have mellowed in time
Back then i was young, brave and foolhardy this i will not deny
But we learn as we live to most people apply

I cannot say that anyone due to my bullets died
But many of my young comrades they fell at my side
And died in their in their own blood under a foreign sky
But what did they die for i now wonder why?

I never had children did not have a wife
Alcohol was the ruination of my life
Because of my drinking the woman i loved with me did not stay
For my addiction losing her was the price i did pay

Well into his eighties the hair on his balding head silver gray
And clearly he had known of a far better day
He went off to war as a very young man
Adventurous and fearless and full of youthful elan

He had fought in a war and had seen brave men die
And we learn as we live in his case not a lie
A gentle old fellow quite mellowed by time
He drank to forget in his physical prime.