The leaden sky, lay heavy <br /> <br />On that bleak autumnal day <br /> <br />When the drummer boy was ordered <br /> <br />His battle drum to play. <br /> <br />The reveille that young boy sounded <br /> <br />Roused the soldiers from their sleep, <br /> <br />They made ready for the battle <br /> <br />And the rendezvous they must keep. <br /> <br />The dew lay heavy on their greatcoats, <br /> <br />Their breath vapourised in the air, <br /> <br />Whilst the greyness all around them <br /> <br />Only deepened their despair. <br /> <br />Another day had dawned <br /> <br />In this, the seige of Malacci, <br /> <br />How many more gallant fighting men <br /> <br />Would stumble, fall and die? <br /> <br />That day’s fighting started slowly <br /> <br />With a brief skirmish, here and there, <br /> <br />Then cannon started pounding <br /> <br />The smell of gunpowder, filled the air. <br /> <br />Grapeshot screamed, and tore through living flesh <br /> <br />Cannon ball, did break their ranks. <br /> <br />Bayonet and sabre scythed a bloody way <br /> <br />Through the centre and both flanks. <br /> <br />The walls of the city, crumbled <br /> <br />Beneath this onslaught of shot and steel <br /> <br />And that proud, bedraggled garrison <br /> <br />Was crushed, beneath the enemy heel. <br /> <br />When the battle sounds had dwindled <br /> <br />And the acrid smoke had cleared, <br /> <br />Both sides began to count the cost <br /> <br />It was more than they had feared. <br /> <br />The victors, although jubilant <br /> <br />Their losses had struck them dumb. <br /> <br />The vanquished had but one soul left <br /> <br />A boy...... with a Broken Drum<br /><br />Loyd David Burt<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-broken-drum/
