the sun rose and set some forty days

amid the shroud of fire's haze

for king and country and tale's bold

through day's heat and night's cold

as cannons roared and swords slashed

limbs severed and heads smashed

the echoed cries and anguish and pain

the blackened hearts of hate and disdain

by the thousands they staggered and fell

atop their comrades bound for hell

the grassy field now stripped to dust

a future scarred by blood and rust

for forty days and forty nights

they fought the most epic of fights

for king and country, for battle fame

yet in the end, only one remained