Kajto - La Soldato Kiu Marŝas - The Soldier Who Marches

I came across this today.  It's a protest song.  I heard some idiot talking about wanting to send soldiers back into Iraq.   Yeah.  That worked out so well the last time.

Here's a translation from the internet.

The Soldier who Marches

Original Esperanto by Claude Piron

The soldier who marches
in the wind
in silence
upon the road which is a marsh
feeling his body no more.

His mind indeed dulls
only the fatigue
and the irritation1
of the rain which drips,
tormenting him without compassion.

And he goes on without blessing
in the mud
in boots
which are always heavy in a bothersome manner
and makes the way rough.

While suffering exclusively
the rhythm
in the mind
rules over everything bad
and ties up the ability to think

And he marches in the line
uniform2
uniform3
in the weather's malice
and the mockery of the sergeant.

He already is awake for a long time
and a yawn
with an obsession
in jaw forming himself
for an irresistible temptation.

If he could even in a begging way
begin to receive
a right to dream
and a minute only to rest
to stop upon the travel path.
But he doesn't hope for that
because the dream,
due to the duty
in a soldier, doesn't appear:
here is the military service's fate.

Already the gun weighs too much
and the helmet
and the bag
and the gruel from clay
stuck to the shoe.

But the far away horizon
most faithfully
leisurely
a meeting
always runs more far away.

The soldier who is tired
continuously goes
he yearns
for a restful, peaceful life
without an additional everlasting drive.

But he feels with disgust
that the life
in asset
goes on continuously and without a pause
to an unachievable purpose.

And likewise in army
the reasoning
about a command
doesn't exist due to obedience
with no exception.

Thus the realization is missing
about the reason
of life
and only rules each attitude
another course and acceptance.

1. is more accurately defined as "the setting of one's teeth on edge (by some kind of irritation)"
2. literally means "union"+"form"
3. literally means "one"+"form"

As you can hear, the original with it more flexible inflection does it easier than English in that meter.