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Who's for the Game? What was her motivation?


  • I-Like-Rhymes
    Mar 20 4:55 PM
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    http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/52141
    Many people, with the wonderful 20 - 20 vision of hindsight criticise Jessie Pope's writing and most of that criticism is centered around their 21st century reading of this early 20th century poem.
    At the time of writing the powers-that-be were describing the latest war as a necessary evil and one that would soon be over ("back for Christmas") even though it had been going 18 months by this time. Thousands of girls were giving out White Feathers to men in civilian clothes because they were not "doing their bit". Men were signing up to "join the game" and "play their part".
    Pope wrote this piece as a reaction to all of that.
    Is it fair to castigate the poet now for what was written then? Was she merely reflecting the mood of the moment or was she actually poking fun at the jingoism?
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