Certain people would not clean their buttons,
Nor polish buckles after latest fashions,
Preferred their hair long, putties comfortable,
Barely escaping hanging, indeed hardly able;
In Bridge and smoking without army cautions
Spending hours that sped like evil for quickness,
(While others burnished brasses, earned promotions)
These were those ones who jested in the trench,
While others argued of army ways, and wrenched
What little soul they had still further from shape,
And died off one by one, or became officers,
Without the first of dream, the ghost of notions
Of ever becoming soldiers, or smart and neat,
Surprised as ever to find the army capable
Of sounding 'Lights out' to break a game of Bridge,
As to fear candles would set a barn alight:
In Artois or Picardy they lie - free of useless fashions.
Notes
putties pronounced 'put ease' were long srips of cloth wrapped round the trousers at the ankle and over the top of the boots so as to keep out the water as much as possible.
In Bridge and smoking refers to soldiers playing cards and smoking perhaps during long boring guard details.
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Comments
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To guest james allen,
The whole poem could be considered ironic, especially describing the common 'Tommy' as a Bohemian.
However it could also be almost considered as statement of fact and, apart from the comments about officers (lines 7 and 11), without any real irony.
It depends upon what you think Gurney's state of mind was when he wrote the piece.
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question
From guest SAM (contact)
who is the persona of the poem? what poetic devices are used? what impact does the form of the poem have? -
The theme of Bohemians
From guest Conner (contact)
"Bohemians" means Leading an unconventional life, basically it's not comforming to acceptance of rules or standards. That the theme -
Message of the poem
From guest James (contact)
Gurney is trying to make a comment here against the rules on uniform and conformity in war time. He seems to have disdain for the officers who promoted people just because they kept their uniforms clean. However, the overall message of this poem is that no matter what your uniform looked like, or however much you followed the rules, you would still end up in the same place... a grave. -
A Sentence or Two?
From guest Sophie (contact)
I have another copy of this, i am using for a GCSE Exam this coming tuesday, My English Teacher has noticed in the other copy that The poem is all one sentence, but here it is not? has anyone else noticed this? -
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More detail
From guest Alka ida (contact)
Tell me more..... ie: what perspective is Guerney coming from -
poem in general
From guest callum X (contact)
The poem to me is mocking all aspects of rules which the soldiers have to partake in Ivor's interpretation is mearly mocking them and portray the fact they are pointless due to the known concequences which war creates -
From guest Ashlea (contact)
It is talking about how there were two types of people that went to war; those who, "burnished brasses, earned promotions" and those who, "Preferred their hair long, putties comfortable," but at the end of the war they all ended up the same "they lie - free of useless fashions."-Dead -
Difficult to fully undestand
These "dead beats" are to be found in any hastily put together outfit. Without the years of tradition and esprit de corps behind them to make obedience to orders routine. They rebel and become a liability. Once questioning begins, what are we here for? why are we doing this? then blind obedience to given orders can no longer be relied upon. Morale sinks to a new low. The few rotten apples in the barrel corrupt the others. -
what is "the bohemians" talking about? what are it's themes?
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