"I have been a soldier in my youth, and therefore know what a helmet is, and what a morion or cap of steel is, as well as a casque with its beaver, and other matters relating to Soldiery—I mean to the arms commonly used by soldiers. And I say, with submission always to better judgments, that the piece before us, not only is not a barber's basin, but is as far from being so as white is from black, and truth from falsehood. At the same time I say that although it be a helmet, it is not a complete helmet."—Don quixote.
Since in fair fightLa Mancha's knightWon th' Helmet of Mambrino,At storm or siege,On lord or liege,Has such a casque been seen, O?
When CavaliersAbout the carsOf Roundheads banged the sword,My shrapnel hatMight ha' been thatI' which Barebones praised the Lord!
A halo shedAround our head,Says one artistic fellow,It might have been—(A soup tureen?)—Designed by Donatello!
Well, have we notFor lack of potUsed it to boil an egg in?Or to immerse—Wash-tubs being scarce—A Highland hand or leg in?
It lies like leadUpon the headWhen we are in the trenches,Yet I must stateOur old "soup-plate"Is safer than the Frenchies'.
And so we laughWhen Huns do strafOur line as they'd o'erwhelm it;You see that dent?For me 'twas meant—God bless my old steel helmet!
Illustration by Joseph Lee from 'Work-a-day Warriors' by Joseph Lee, published in 1917
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