Robert W. Service
My stretcher is one scarlet stain,
And as I tries to scrape it clean,
I tell you wot—I’m sick with pain
For all I’ve ‘eard, for all I’ve seen;
Around me is the ‘ellish night,
And as the war’s red rim I trace,
I wonder if in ‘Eaven’s height,
Our God don’t turn away ‘Is Face.
I don’t care ‘oose the Crime may be;
I ‘olds no brief for kin or clan;
I ‘ymns no ‘ate: I only see
As man destroys his brother man;
I waves no flag: I only know,
As ‘ere beside the dead I wait,
A million ‘earts is weighed with woe,
A million ‘omes is desolate.
In drippin’ darkness, far and near,
All night I’ve sought them woeful ones.
Dawn shudders up and still I ‘ear
The crimson chorus of the guns.
Look! like a ball of blood the sun
‘Angs o’er the scene of wrath and wrong. . . .
“Quick! Stretcher-bearers on the run!”
O PRINCE OF PEACE! ‘OW LONG, ‘OW LONG?
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This poem, stark and poignant, offers a grim reflection on the horrors of war, portraying a soldier’s anguish as he grapples with the brutal reality of conflict. The imagery of the “scarlet stain” on the stretcher, a powerful metaphor for blood and death, sets the tone of despair right from the beginning. The soldier’s physical pain, coupled with the emotional turmoil of witnessing human suffering, creates a sense of overwhelming hopelessness.
The poet captures the soldier’s exhaustion, both from the carnage surrounding him and from the crushing realization that war strips away all notions of identity or cause. There’s no allegiance to “kin or clan” here; all that matters is the shared experience of suffering. The speaker has moved beyond patriotism or ideology, recognizing only the universal tragedy of human destruction. The line “I only see / As man destroys his brother man” encapsulates this disillusionment, conveying the futility and senselessness of the violence.
The lack of any comforting rhetoric or glory in the poem is striking. Unlike many wartime poems that might call on heroism or national pride, this one focuses on the raw, brutal experience of waiting by the dead, witnessing the constant horror. The question “Our God don’t turn away ‘Is Face” suggests a feeling of abandonment, an existential crisis in the face of mass suffering. The soldier seems to wonder how a higher power can allow such destruction, a sentiment that many wartime poets and soldiers themselves echoed.
In the second stanza, the speaker refuses to wave a flag or align with any cause. His focus is solely on the collective grief of humanity—”A million ‘earts is weighed with woe / A million ‘omes is desolate.” This deep sorrow is not personal but shared by countless others, a profound comment on the widespread devastation war brings to both soldiers and civilians. The speaker is not concerned with the rights or wrongs of the conflict, only the unrelenting destruction of life.
The final stanza, where the sun is described as a “ball of blood,” evokes a visceral image of the world stained by violence, its horrors continuing through the night and into the day. The desperate call, “O PRINCE OF PEACE! ‘OW LONG, ‘OW LONG?” marks the poem’s climax. The speaker is no longer just witnessing but pleading for an end to the suffering. The prayerful cry, though addressing a higher power, is steeped in disbelief, almost as if the soldier doubts the possibility of any divine intervention amidst the carnage.
Overall, the poem is a haunting condemnation of war, focused not on the soldiers’ courage or heroism but on the unbearable pain and devastation it causes. It calls for peace but does so with a raw sense of helplessness, leaving the reader with a powerful, lingering sense of the tragedy and futility of war.