Anwar Chowdhury
Anwar Chowdhury
Mrs. Hodgson
English IV K – 5th
24 January 2015 Siegfried Sassoon In Siegfried Sassoon’s World War I poem They a great amount of poetic devices such as irony and rhyme scheme are used to develop the overall theme of the poem. The poem holds a very dark and shocking side of a war within its meaning and theme. Drawn from Sassoon’s own experiences he had during his time in the First World War, The strong overall theme of the piece is the changes that war makes on someone. Sassoon’s poetry starts off with an excerpt of speech from a church bishop. The bishop tells a few returning soldiers “When the boys come back, they will not be the same; for they fought in a just cause: they lead the last attack on Anti-Christ.” The freshly-returned-home soldiers respond in what can almost be described as an angry tone “We’re none of us the same!” The boys then continue on saying the various predicaments that they ran into throughout the terrors of the war and the nightmarish situations that presented themselves to the lads through various battles. The boys continue on saying “George lost both legs, bill is stone blind!” The Bishop, in an ironic response to the boys explanation of why they’re changed the way they are, quickly remarks “The ways of God are strange!” With how this poem started off, the bishop claiming these boys will be different, the reader can only assume he would sympathize with the boys after hearing their struggles. Instead, the bishop simply exclaims “The ways of God are strange!” this is irony. Another device used is the rhyme scheme which is seen throughout the poem. “New right to breed an honorable race, they have challenged death and dared him face to face.” The rhyme scheme strengthens the overwhelming emotion that Sassoon is trying to heavily convey onto the readers. Both of these devices are used in great ways that very clearly bring forward the theme of “How war takes a toll on someone.” Sassoon’s poetry starts off with an
Mrs. Hodgson
English IV K – 5th
24 January 2015 Siegfried Sassoon In Siegfried Sassoon’s World War I poem They a great amount of poetic devices such as irony and rhyme scheme are used to develop the overall theme of the poem. The poem holds a very dark and shocking side of a war within its meaning and theme. Drawn from Sassoon’s own experiences he had during his time in the First World War, The strong overall theme of the piece is the changes that war makes on someone. Sassoon’s poetry starts off with an excerpt of speech from a church bishop. The bishop tells a few returning soldiers “When the boys come back, they will not be the same; for they fought in a just cause: they lead the last attack on Anti-Christ.” The freshly-returned-home soldiers respond in what can almost be described as an angry tone “We’re none of us the same!” The boys then continue on saying the various predicaments that they ran into throughout the terrors of the war and the nightmarish situations that presented themselves to the lads through various battles. The boys continue on saying “George lost both legs, bill is stone blind!” The Bishop, in an ironic response to the boys explanation of why they’re changed the way they are, quickly remarks “The ways of God are strange!” With how this poem started off, the bishop claiming these boys will be different, the reader can only assume he would sympathize with the boys after hearing their struggles. Instead, the bishop simply exclaims “The ways of God are strange!” this is irony. Another device used is the rhyme scheme which is seen throughout the poem. “New right to breed an honorable race, they have challenged death and dared him face to face.” The rhyme scheme strengthens the overwhelming emotion that Sassoon is trying to heavily convey onto the readers. Both of these devices are used in great ways that very clearly bring forward the theme of “How war takes a toll on someone.” Sassoon’s poetry starts off with an