Arabic to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature

I'm working on a Libyan text, and trying to understand how the verb 'to bite' works with the noun tongue here. In this scene, the narrator is being told about a glass eye that he can borrow, but it used to belong to someone who fought in the war. He's scared at the prospect, and shivers/trembles. And then he says with a 'bitten tongue'?

Here's the Arabic:

هذي عين واحد انعورفي الحرب ٬ ما لقوش جثته لليوم"
.

ارتجف خالد وقال بلسان معضوض:
أنا ما ليش فيه جو الحرب٫ أنا راجل شاعر مرهف المشاعر

I understand the rest of what I've written above, but have just given a few lines for context.