The Chamber of Horrors by Esther E. Leonard - October 18, 1918

Transcript

THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS I went on duty as usual At the hour of seven P.M. To ease the pain and suffering Of our gallant wounded men; They fought thier battles over, Mid the dreams of ether’s fumes; Some moan for wife or Mother While some of them curse the Huns. For days they have been in the trenches, In dug-outs of mud and mire, Facing machine guns and cannons, Building thier fenches of wire; O’er No-Mans-Land in the darkness, Creeping along like snails, Listening to the patter of schrapnel Or the machine gun bullet’s wail. Perhaps in the dawn of the morning The order will come to advance; Each man is filled with glory, Each man is given his chance To reckon with any German, The Kaiser Crown Prince and all, He can give him a machine gun bullet, Or feed him a rifle ball. Then when the fighting is over And the roll is called again We know the toll collected. From our army of fearless men: Death is not all the horrors To be reckoned with in thsi strife, ‘Tis those blinded or wounded, And left cripples the rest of thier life. Those that have gone to thier Master, Were tenderly laid to rest; While those that were blinded and mangled Were brought to us to be dressed: Oh! blessed be the word anaesthesia, Be it chloroform, ether, cocain, For in that “Chamber of Horrors” It vanishes suffering and pain. Esther E. Leonard. Written October 18th 1918. Evac. Hospital #6 Souilly France.