The Dead Drummer Comments

This poem captivated me from the first moment I heard it! Needless to mention it is one of my favourite ones. The imagery is so poignant and clear... and one can sense the bewilderness of young drummer Hodge who was not a warrior but perhaps a simple villager who has never travelled far from his home before. It brings to mind the futility of war... of mindless loss of innocent lives. Hodge's burial without a coffin still leaves the sense of incompleteness - and he does live on somewhat undead and unsettled in this strange land as part of some new life (like a tree) .