They by Siegfried Sassoon
“They” by Siegfried Sassoon
The poem exists out of two stanzas, with a rhyme pattern of ababcc dedeff. The tone of the poem appears to be a little sarcastic and mocking. The poem is a direct conversation between a Bishop and boys (soldiers), it can be seen by the use of the double quotations. I assume for the boys to be soldiers as they know the other soldiers by their names.
In line 1-6 the Bishop, is telling the boys that when the soldiers return from the war, they will not be the same again, and he states the reasons why. The boys’ response to this can be seen in line 7-11. The boys are of the opinion that yes they will not be the same again, but not for the reason the Bishop has listed. The Bishops only response to this is to say that “the ways of God is strange” as can be seen in line 12.
In the first line the Bishop starts a conversation with the soldiers. The semicolon that is used in line 2, forces the reader to take a longer pause, as what follows is an explanation of why the soldiers will not be the same again. As the Bishop is of the opinion that the soldiers have fought in a cause (line 2), the cause being the war. In line 4 a colon is used to list the reasons why they have changed. The reasons being, “they lead the last attack On Anti-Christ” (line 3), the word last is used to indicate that they were the survivors of the war and were the ones to be part of the last attack on the enemy. The Bishop refers to the enemy as the Anti-Christ, perhaps the opposing party had different ritual believes than they. The Bishop further goes on, saying that the blood meaning the deaths of their friends and other fighters (comrades) gives the soldiers the right to have children, the Bishop uses the words “new right to breed” as can be seen in line 5. As if you have to earn the right to have children. The last reason the Bishop gives is because they “have challenged Death and dared him face to face” (line 6). Here the poet made use of
The poem exists out of two stanzas, with a rhyme pattern of ababcc dedeff. The tone of the poem appears to be a little sarcastic and mocking. The poem is a direct conversation between a Bishop and boys (soldiers), it can be seen by the use of the double quotations. I assume for the boys to be soldiers as they know the other soldiers by their names.
In line 1-6 the Bishop, is telling the boys that when the soldiers return from the war, they will not be the same again, and he states the reasons why. The boys’ response to this can be seen in line 7-11. The boys are of the opinion that yes they will not be the same again, but not for the reason the Bishop has listed. The Bishops only response to this is to say that “the ways of God is strange” as can be seen in line 12.
In the first line the Bishop starts a conversation with the soldiers. The semicolon that is used in line 2, forces the reader to take a longer pause, as what follows is an explanation of why the soldiers will not be the same again. As the Bishop is of the opinion that the soldiers have fought in a cause (line 2), the cause being the war. In line 4 a colon is used to list the reasons why they have changed. The reasons being, “they lead the last attack On Anti-Christ” (line 3), the word last is used to indicate that they were the survivors of the war and were the ones to be part of the last attack on the enemy. The Bishop refers to the enemy as the Anti-Christ, perhaps the opposing party had different ritual believes than they. The Bishop further goes on, saying that the blood meaning the deaths of their friends and other fighters (comrades) gives the soldiers the right to have children, the Bishop uses the words “new right to breed” as can be seen in line 5. As if you have to earn the right to have children. The last reason the Bishop gives is because they “have challenged Death and dared him face to face” (line 6). Here the poet made use of
References: Griffiths, G. M. 2011. They – Siegfried Sassoon. Available at: http://movehimintothesun.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/they-siegfried-sassoon/ [Accessed: 20 August 2013]