The Grand Old Duke of York

The General’s Glory - Is He an Old General Reliving His Glory Days?

The grand old duke of York is playing with toy soldiers. The old man is actually not wearing anything that would connect him to the military at all, but instead wears an outfit that one assumes is that of a wealthy person of his time due the lace frills protruding at the chest and the cuffs. His hair is white showing his advanced age and his lips, which are sunken in as he smiles, may point to the fact that he does not have any teeth left. He might be fantasizing about being a general again.

The soldiers are not on a battlefield, but playing on a shiny table. The table with its solid, molded legs and the chair with the backrest that resembles the top a throne appear to be expensive. Is this an obscure reference to the fact that this man may have been revered as a soldier in his time?

The fact that the army is kept in boxes would point to the fact that this man treasures it. In fact, the pieces are wrapped in tissue paper in labeled boxes. On a figurative level, that is, if this man was actually the duke of York who led men into battle in his youth, could this tender loving care speak of the memories that we hold dear and only take out on special occasions? Despite the fact that the general is not leading the men literally, the picture follows the rhyme in that the hill is represented on the table, as are the men moving up and down on it. Is he an old general reliving his glory days after his retirement? Is he a general going over the one battle he lost?

If the words are analyzed against the pictures, they seem to mean that this old man has absolutely nothing else to do but tackle the biggest obstacle on the table, which is that beautiful green hill in front of him. Clearly, he is too old to engage the soldiers in any real skirmishes. Because he is old, he may forget why he placed the soldiers at the foot of the hill once they are there, and then start moving them up again only to forget why he moved them up in the first place. In that case, the rhyme becomes an absurdity rather than an allusion to a military movement of any significance.