Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

War, Disease, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Anaesthesia

    Written to represent 'Yankee' speech, the poem ponders the 'sweet and comely' idea of dying for one's country out of duty, but balances this notion by the pain suffered on the battlefields of the American Civil War: 'Wen dyin' of a bullet wich the docter can't extract, or / A shattered leg, an' gangreen on a comminooted fracter, / Praps you may feel sum comfert in your torter, ef your trust is / That you're sufferin' marterdum acause you fit for justis'. Points out that 'ain't no chloryform / Wun't stop the smart o' ne'er a wound' and 'Honner ain't wuth a cent ixcept to them ez lives to brag on it'.