War poets Siegfried Sassoon

War poets
A War poet is a poet writing in time of and on the subject of war. The term, which is applied especially
to those in military service during I World War, was documented as early as 1848 in reference to
German revolutionary poet, Georg Herwegh. The 1854 publication of Charge of the Light Brigade
allowed Alfred Tennyson to be classified a war poet, and in 1900 Mabel Birchenough published
Wanted–a New War Poet: a Handful of Crimean War Poems.
In November 1985, a slate memorial was unveiled in Poet's Corner commemorating 16 poets of the
Great War, for example: Rupert Brooke, Ivor Gurney, Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried
Sassoon and Charles Sorley.
This group of English poets (War Poets) were greatly affected by the I World War and it became a
central theme in their work. Initial enthusiasm for the war, based on the belief that the British were
fighting for a just cause, soon gave way to a sense of horror when it was realized how many young lives
were being wasted.
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE, MC (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English poet and
author. He became known as a writer of satirical anti-war verse during I World War. He later won
acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volume fictionalised autobiography, collectively known as
the "Sherston Trilogy".Sassoon participated in I World War (British Army) and the war affected him
directly. He was wounded several times and his brother was killed during the war. He was several times
decorated and his actions during the battles gave him the nick-name of “Mad-Jack” among other
soldiers. After an attack of trench fever (or enteritis), he was sent home and he started to write
some satirical war poems. He went back to the front, but after a serious wound, he came back home
and during his convalescence, he started to make a strong campaign against the war with some friends
(Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen…).
“They”
The Bishop tells us: “When the boys come back
They will not be the same; for they’ll have fought
In a just cause: they lead the last attack
On Anti-Christ; their comrades’ blood has bought
New right to breed an honorable race.
They have challenged Death and dared him face to face.”
“We’re none of us the same!” the boys reply.
“For George lost both his legs; and Bill’s stone blind.
Poor Jim’s shot through the lungs, and like to die;
And Bert’s gone syphilitic: you’ll not find
A chap who’s served that hasn’t found some change.”
And the Bishop said: “The ways of God are strange!”
“Essi”
Il vescovo ci dice: “Quando torneranno i ragazzi
non saranno più gli stessi, perché avranno combattuto
per una giusta causa: guidano attacco finale
contro l’Anti-Cristo; il sangue dei loro camerati
avrà guadagnato un nuovo diritto a generare una razza onorevole;
hanno sfidato la Morte, affrontandola faccia a faccia”.
“Nessun di noi è lo stesso!” rispondono i ragazzi.
“George ha perso le gambe, Bill è cieco,
al povero Jim gli hanno sparato nei polmoni e probabilmente morirà,
Bert è sifilitico: non troverai nessuno che sia stato
sotto le armi senza ritrovarsi cambiato in qualche modo”.
E il vescovo disse: “Le vie del Signore sono curiose!”
Comment
I have chosen this poem because the author is able to represent the sorrow and pain that soldiers
suffered in the First World War. Infact this poem Sassoon writes from the perspective of soldiers.
He uses the soldiers’ sorrow to represent the impotency and the obligation that they are submitted to
their Bishop’s orders in favour or against their will.
Sassoon’s poem shows an anti-military feeling presented by a strong irony. This poem opens with a
dispassionate tone, very nonchalant, but it plays with irony and finally hits with the realities of war.
These features are increased along the poem because we can appreciate that Sassoon makes a
comparison between the opposition that exists between the supposed good motivations of the war
“just causes” (line 3), “honourable race” (line 5) etc; and the real consequences that are exposed when
the soldiers come back to the war in the coming back “lost his legs” (line 8), “shot through the lungs
and like to die” (line 9), “gone syphilitic” (line 10) etc. But in the poem there is a figure which is
represented like an ironical one, the Bishop, who in final sentence tries to justify the meaning of the
not so positive consequences of the war to the soldiers (line 12).
In my opinion in this poem as we can observe, the poet shows a duality between the horrendous results
of the war and the concepts of glory, honour, courage etc that are usually involved with the actions,
reasons or death during the war. From my point of view, Sassoon mixes extraordinarily the dramatic
perspective and the satirical perspective along his poems to show the real ridiculous motivations and
consequences of the war.
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The experience of war was also a distinctive feature in Italian
poetry. G. Ungaretti described the feeling of imminent
destruction and resignation in the striking lines:
Si sta
come d’autunno
sugli alberi
le foglie
Soldati 1918