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Sonnet 22 Battle of Marston Moor Ii

I let a boy, a Roundhead* boy, to live...
I knocked him down, and said, 'stay down my boy!
You're fourteen, and your mother waits to give
You letters** - HEY THEN!  THAT is not a TOY!'
(For he'd stuck me a bit wi' a little knife,)
It only hurted summat, so I took it,
And said, 'stay DOWN!  THESE words are worth your life!'
He cried a bit -- I took his hand and shook it,
Then, I pulled out the knife, and gave it back.
And knocked him out, then, and left him for dead,
'You'll wake up well alive, lad!'  Then a 'crack'!
A Roundhead* bullet took me in the head.
So, I lay down a bit, to rest me eyes,
And I am lying there still, I must surmise...

* 'Roundhead' was the Kingsmen's name for the Parliamentarian forces of Oliver 
   Cromwell
** it was not uncommon, after a battle, once the boys were furloughed, for 
     family to send the boys back with letters for the men who still fought

Copyright © Andrew Fairchild | Year Posted 2019

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P.S. Awtry Date: 1/22/2019 2:50:00 PM Enjoyed this tale! And the comment below made me smile: "I am probably too inexperienced, to consider it impossible, so I may do it!" :) Login to Reply Andrew Fairchild Date: 1/22/2019 9:03:00 PM Glad you enjoyed it! And I AM 'too inexperienced, to consider it impossible'! Besides, it's just for fun and education and sharing, and I need the practice and love a challenge!

Andrea Dietrich Date: 1/20/2019 2:55:00 PM wow, putting us right there IN the battle and on the field. What a great ending. I like when people use sonnets for plain language. I do that a lot too! Login to Reply Andrew Fairchild Date: 1/21/2019 2:32:00 AM Thank You! I thought, 'I could do better than I did before', so I wrote a sequel to the other one. I think soldiers are often ordinary people who do extraordinary things, but never get any of the credit, though that has started to change. As to plain language, I Love It!