Great Regulars: "Beligia Bar-Lass", like other poems

written at the start of the First World War, conveys the patriotic hope and idealism of the time. But, though it does contribute to the "old lie", its earnest ending and ambiguity as to the outcome of "the affray" differentiates it from the work of her contemporaries, such as Jessie Pope. [Mary] Duclaux does not employ a "game" metaphor to encourage enlistment; instead she paints a picture of an ordinary bar girl who has the bravery and initiative to sacrifice her own bones to protect the King and Queen from the invading "tyrant".

from The Times Literary Supplement: Poem of the Week: "Belgia Bar-Lass"

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