Revealing mistake: Several maps of Europe shown in the film have Germany divided into East and West, and show national borders from 1945 onwards.
Revealing mistake: In the beginning of the movie when the child is trying to remove the ring from a dead American soldier it is obvious that he is pulling on the finger and not the ring.
Revealing mistake: In the scene where a child is seen stealing a ring from a dead soldier's finger, the soldier's arm is visibly moving and twitching.
Revealing mistake: When Patton is inspecting the barracks at the beginning of the movie he swipes a picture of a "calendar girl" off the wall. If you look there are a number of scrapes already on the wall. There were obviously a number of retakes.
Revealing mistake: In Patton's office with Generals Truscott and Bradley, Patton lies down on a bench which is almost in the middle of the room when showing all three officers. However, the closeups of Patton lying on the couch shows the couch up close to a wall.
Answer: George S. Patton was not speaking figuratively. In real life, Patton very much believed in reincarnation, and he believed he had been reincarnated as a warrior many times, going back thousands of years. His poetry described his real-life belief in reincarnation.