How does John Arden use imagery in Sergeant Musgrave's Dance?

The Bargee's song at the beginning of Act Three is typical of the play's satirical attacks upon the Establishment:

Hip hip hooroar
Hark hark the drums do bark
The Hungry Army's coming to town
Lead 'em in with a Holy Book
A golden chain and a scarlet gown.

And the chant-like delivery of the theme "A soldier's duty is a soldier's life" is heightened by punctuating drum rolls and the maniacal dance of Musgrave. The song he sings complements the theme of death and duty. Though Arden is certainly criticizing the methods of British imperialism, the colour imagery of the play generates meaning beyond simple indictment of war in general or the British colonial Raj in particular. In fact the play envelopes all of its characters in its controlling irony and leaves none unscathed by its searching scrutiny of human nature.