In the first stanza, it describes daily routine of the soldiers in a battlefield. It also demonstrates well the soldiers in a battlefield who are being tired and have to obey the authority. Also, this scene implies the reality of the war that the soldiers will eventually face. Therefore, this stanza functions as a preface of this poem.
The atmosphere of this poem changes in the second stanza. “Gas! GAS! Quick, Boys! (9)” implies that the situation of the battlefield becomes miserable because the gas bomb was dropped. Since the author uses capital letters and an exclamation mark in the line, this line shows not only the situation is much urgent but also it helps his audience to focus on this poem.
In addition to, the past tense is used in the first stanza and the second stanza. The author states, “Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs (3)”. This line implies a dangerous situation in a battlefield that flares can take the soldiers’ eyes away from them. Also, the author says, “deaf even to the hoots of gas-shells dropping softly behind (8-9).” This line shows a tragic situation that many of them (the soldiers) die even without hearing the sound of the gas bomb. Also, the word, “softly” in the line emphasizes the tragic …show more content…
The author says, “But someone still was yelling out and stumbling and flound’ring like a man in fire or lime (11-12).” These lines imply the soldier’s chaos between life and death. Also he states, “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, as under green sea, I saw him drowning (13-14)”, the lines contain a paradox. The color, “green” naturally is a color that gives hope, but it is considered as death in the lines because the smoke from the gas bomb is