Poets of World War 1

Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) "How to Die"
Dark clouds are smouldering into red While down the craters morning burns.The dying soldier shifts his head To watch the glory that returns;He lifts his fingers toward the skies Where holy brightness breaks in flame;Radiance reflected in his eyes, And on his lips a whispered name.You'd think, to hear some people talk, That lads go West with sobs and curses,And sullen faces white as chalk, Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses.But they've been taught the way to do it Like Christian soldiers; not with hasteAnd shuddering groans; but passing through it With due regard for decent taste.


This poem explains in great detail what a soldier's last moments would be like. When it says "The dying soldier shifts his head to watch the glory that returns; he lifts his fingers toward the skies Where holy brightness breaks in flame" It seems to me that the soldier is watching the bombs explode in the sky. This contrasts greatly with the proud images used to get people to join the war that we found in the last blog entry. It shows the darker side of war from the point of veiw from someone who was actually there.


Siegfried Sassoon was born on September 8th, 1886, in a place called Kent. He went to several colleges but did not get a degree. He lived a simple life writing poetry that made very little impact on the public until WWI when he enlilsted. In the war, he was considered very brave, and given the nickname "Mad Jack." After being wounded in 1917, he was forced to go back to England. He became angry with the way the war was being fought, and thought it should have been ended by now, and published a Soldier's Declaration which stated his opinion. And from then on his poetry reflected his anger towards the war.