TOPIC:

There's lots of things a fellow feels as can't be said outright,
Although he makes his mind up in the watches o' the night,
And so I guess I'll put it plainly down in black-and-white
That you have been an angel to me, Nurse.

I well remember even now how I was carried in -
A Mauser bullet in my side, a gash across my chin;
I didn't do much howlin'. but, you bet, it hurt like sin
Until you came and stopped the achin', Nurse.

And when my wounds were throbbin' so I didn't care a rap
If Kruger's Johnnies came along and wiped me off the map,
A sudden something seemed to make me feel another chap,
For you were like a glimpse o' Heaven, Nurse.

And, though you never gave a hint of what you thought or felt,
I see a little portrait once a-stickin' in your belt,
And guessed that you had someone fightin' there across the veldt -
God keep him safe and bring him to you, Nurse!

Composed by Keble Howard and originally published in The Sketch.

'Keble Howard' was the pseudonym of John Keble Bell (1875-1928); from 1899 he was assistant editor of The Sketch, becoming editor 1902-1904. He had several plays produced in the early 1900s.

I found the poem reproduced in a 1900 issue of the Ormskirk Advertiser.

Nurses and medical staff in all conflicts are the unsung heroes
and bring a sense of comfort to a desperate situation.
A lovely poem and contribution
Tkx
Evyn

Mr Berenice, Sir ...

Much appreciated - and thought provoking!

Howard's verses bring to mind a very different sort of Angel for Thomas Atkins, in altogether different time and place out of ABW context.


With acknowledgement of course to the Bard of the Empire.
amb