Jessie Pope

Jessie Pope was an English poet born in the city of Leicester. She was educated at the North London Collegiate School. Much of her poetry was concerned with World War I. Having spent the war years in Britain, she never experienced life in the trenches, a limitation which is reflected in her poetry. Primarily a pro-war propagandist, she is often seen as trivialising the war through her use of simple rhyme schemes (similar to those in nursery rhymes) and allusions to sports, games and heroism. She had three volumes of verse published: War Poems (1915) More War Poems (1916) and finally Simple Rhymes for Stirring times (1916) the last of which contained the poem 'Who's for the Game?'

Pope was widely published during the war as a result of her pro-war stance and motivational style. However, many soldiers writing poetry at the time found her work distasteful - Wilfred Owen's poem Dulce et Decorum Est was a direct response to her writing, originally dedicated "To Jessie Pope".
Another of Owens poems used as a comparison to 'Who's for the Game?' is 'Disabled' Pope was accused of writing 'tasteless' poetry and this poem of Owens was a direct comparison of 'the Game' as it tells of a disabled/maimed ex-footlballer.