Poem 2

Poem: Does it matter?
Author: Segfried Sassoon

DOES it matter?—losing your legs?…
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs. 5

Does it matter?—losing your sight?…
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light. 10

Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?…
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.

Analyse the poem.

Repetition is used throughout the poem to express irony in what people will think just because you fought for your country, ‘And people will always be kind,’ this is used to show that no matter what people will give you sympathy and pity for fighting in a war. Another language feature is the tone of the poem, it is obviously an angry tone but sarcastically sends the message in a passive aggressive manner. Rhetorical questions are found throughout the poem e.g. ‘Does it matter.? – Losing your sight?’ This again shows a passive aggressive tone showing the reality of war and what consequences there can be.

Write a short biography

Siegfried Sassoon joined the army because he felt patriotic towards his country. During his time with the army he broke his arm, his younger brother died and he got a military cross for bringing back an injured solider while under fire. He also got wounded in action.

2. The author is expressing his anger towards the idea of war and the people that are allowing them to go. This is seen when he says “When the others come in after hunting To gobble their muffins and eggs” this shows how the author thinks that the officers don’t care about all the sacrifices that they are making just to advance a little bit. Also by referring to the enemies as animals makes what they are doing seem less cruel and more like a game. It also shows everyone back home is so oblivious to the horrors of war. He is ironically understating the dangers of war how other back home think it is.

3. The author would like to express the ideas to show how stupid people are for thinking that war is an easy clean sport that is worth going over for to come back home with glory. He wants to show how this is all kind of a joke

4. The author has expressed these ideas by using repetitive rhetorical questions to make the reader re think the logic in war. These rhetorical questions are then followed up by another much harsher rhetorical question to make the reader understand the harsh realities of war. The author then juxtapositions the severity of war with the complete ignorance of the people back home.

5. These ideas are quite valid as the poem is a realism poem which means it signifies the reality of war and its horrors.
6. This idea is relevant today as we learn about how important it is that both soliders and people back home know the true horror of war so that both can fully understand the consequence of going to war. This is especially important today considering we are about to send people over to the Middle East