Trench Ballads, and Other Verses

In Short

This collection of verse captures the daily existence of an American soldier serving in the 16th Infantry, First Division, during the First World War. Written largely on scrap paper and old envelopes in the trenches of France, the poems document the entire arc of combat—from the exhaustion of endless marches and the terrifying hallucinations of sentry duty to the relief of field hospitals and the eventual voyage home. Supplemented by pre-war verses, personal reflections, and detailed explanatory notes, the volume preserves the authentic voice, humor, and grim determination of the common infantryman in the ranks.

The Story

The book opens in the wet, cratered battlefields of northern France, where the speaker serves as a private in the front-line trenches. Life here is measured not by grand tactical maneuvers, but by physical endurance and constant peril. The soldier details the agonizing toll of marching on worn, broken feet, the persistent nuisance of trench flies and cooties, and the sheer terror of artillery barrages. Night duty in No Man's Land turns barb-wire posts into shifting, menacing phantoms, driving exhausted sentries to the brink of sleep-deprived delirium as they scan the fog for enemy patrols.

Amid the carnage, moments of light break through the misery. The narrative captures the profound gratitude felt toward the Salvation Army for providing hot food and a warm welcome without bureaucratic pretension. A rare week in reserve brings the exquisite luxury of a hot meal—fried eggs and melted chocolate prepared by a kindly French peasant woman in a half-deserted town. Romance and camaraderie surface in brief encounters with French civilians and the lighthearted banter among the men in the ranks.

Yet the combat remains relentless. The poems trace the First Division's trajectory across historical battlefields—from early training at Gondrecourt to the heavy fighting at Cantigny, Soissons, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne. The speaker experiences the brutal reality of "going over the top," facing machine-gun fire, poison gas, and high-explosive shells known as "G. I. Cans." In one tense night episode, a picked patrol creeps into No Man's Land under the command of an officer named Captain Blankburg, whose German ancestry breeds suspicion among his own men; the tension peaks when the captain speaks German into the darkness, only to draw out an enemy officer and eliminate him with a sudden pistol shot.

Eventually, the inevitable occurs: the speaker is wounded in action. The setting shifts from the muddy trenches to the clean, quiet environment of a military hospital. Here, convalescing soldiers with shattered limbs, bandaged eyes, and drained wounds find solace in the gentle presence of nurses—which instantly cleans up the men's colorful trench language—and in screening Charlie Chaplin comedy reels in the darkened mess hall.

Following recovery and the signing of the armistice, the journey draws to a close. The collection concludes with the soldier embarking on a transport ship, watching the sea foam as the vessel carries the battle-weary troops back across the Atlantic toward the waiting shores of home.

How It Unfolds

The sentry stands watch In the sodden darkness of No Man's Land, an exhausted soldier hallucinates that twisted barbed-wire posts are creeping enemy patrols. He strains to keep his eyes open through the dripping fog, desperate for sleep while high-explosive shells detonate in the distance.

Life in the trenches The narrative shifts to the daily indignities and small comforts of the front line. Men battle swarms of flies and lice, endure endless rain and mud, and celebrate simple mercies like a hot canteen of water or a meal prepared in a peasant’s kitchen.

The advance across France The fighting escalates as the First Division pushes through major offensive sectors including Soissons, St. Mihiel, and the dense slopes of the Meuse-Argonne. Soldiers brace themselves for incoming shrapnel and chemical attacks, charging over the parapet into machine-gun fire with bayonets fixed.

Convalescent days in hospital After being wounded, the speaker rests in a field hospital alongside hundreds of injured comrades. The men temper their crude trench vernacular when the nurses enter, and they find brief escape from their physical agony while watching silent film comedies.

Homeward bound across the sea With the war ended, the soldiers shed their heavy packs and board the ships bound for America. Standing at the deck railing, they look back at the receding French coastline and look forward to returning to civilian life.

The People

• The Speaker (Private Garrett): A front-line infantryman in Company G, 16th Infantry, First Division. He wants simple survival, a warm meal, and a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, but he is driven by a deep sense of patriotic duty that sustains him through severe physical suffering, bad weather, and combat wounds.
• The Infantrymen ("John Doe" / The Doughboys): The collective body of rank-and-file soldiers who bear the true burden of the war. They endure ruined feet, filthy uniforms, bad food, and constant artillery fire, using dark humor, foul language, and stubborn resilience to cope with the horrors around them.
• Captain Blankburg: An American officer of German descent who leads a night reconnoitering patrol into No Man's Land. Suspected of treachery by his own men, who keep their rifles trained on his back in the dark, he uses his fluency in German to trick an enemy officer into revealing his position before shooting him.
• The French Civilians and Salvation Army Workers: Auxiliary figures who provide essential comfort to the troops. The Salvation Army workers offer shelter and kindness without supercilious rules, while local French women provide warm hospitality, fried eggs, and lighthearted laughter that ease the strain of battle.

In Its Own Voice

"And the barb-wire posts are sightless ghosts / That swagger, click and sway, / And seem to grin, in their blood-stained sin, / In a most unpleasant way."

A weary sentry describes the eerie mind tricks played by extreme sleep deprivation during a night watch in No Man's Land.

"Some say this war was fought and won / With gleaming bayonets... / But I, by the poor old weary limping / Tired broken feet."

The speaker reflects on the unglamorous reality of infantry life, arguing that sheer physical endurance matters more than weapons.

"The aching head, the splintered arm, / The weary, dragging feet; / The wound that took a month to drain— / The everlasting, gnawing pain— / Are all forgot and gone again / When Charlie strikes the street."

Wounded soldiers finding momentary relief from their severe injuries while watching a Charlie Chaplin film in the hospital.

What It's Really About

The collection strips away romantic notions of military glory to reveal the unvarnished reality of modern industrial warfare. At its core, the book explores how human beings endure systemic misery—not through grand philosophical ideals, but through physical grit, shared humor, and modest comforts. It contrasts the noble motives of the soldier with the filthy, humiliating conditions of the trenches, where lice, wet socks, and sleep deprivation are as constant as enemy fire. Beneath the verse lies an implicit tribute to the anonymous private in the ranks, asserting that wars are ultimately won by the quiet endurance of ordinary men whose suffering receives little public recognition.

Why Read It Today

Readers drawn to first-hand historical testimony will value this collection for its raw immediacy and lack of literary polish. Because the verses were drafted in the field on scrap paper, they offer a direct window into the psychological state of an American doughboy while the war was actively raging. The writing style is unpretentious and rhythmic, using simple ballad forms, period soldier slang, and colloquial dialogue to capture the mood of the camps and dugouts.

The book does present specific period challenges. The verse relies heavily on early twentieth-century meter and rhyme schemes that can feel predictable to modern readers. Furthermore, the text contains harsh wartime rhetoric, intense anti-German sentiment, and outdated cultural references that reflect the bitter prejudices of 1918. Detailed explanatory notes at the back are essential for deciphering military acronyms, historical references, and military slang like "G. I. Cans" or "Sitting Jake." For those willing to read past the formal conventions of its era, the volume remains a compelling, highly personal artifact of the First World War.