'Jack fell as he'd have wished,' the mother said,
And folded up the letter that she'd read.
'The Colonel writes so nicely.' Something broke
In the tired voice that quavered to a choke.
She half looked up. 'We mothers are so proud
Of our dead soldiers.' Then her face was bowed.
Quietly the Brother Officer went out.
He'd told the poor old dear some gallant lies
That she would nourish all her days, no doubt
For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes
Had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy,
Because he'd been so brave, her glorious boy.
He thought how 'Jack', cold-footed, useless swine,
Had panicked down the trench that night the mine
Went up at Wicked Corner; how he'd tried
To get sent home, and how, at last, he died,
Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care
Except that lonely woman with white hair.
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Help!
From guest Jamiee Gonzalezz ' (contact)
Can anyone please help me analyse each stanza
Thanks .
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Good versus bad a reflection in mirror
Each is the front and each is the rear
Hate like a bullet will peirce through their hearts
Can we ever know end if we know not the start
Eddy
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Second.
From guest Antoy (contact)
Has always been my second favourite Sassoon poem, coming in closely after 'Suicide in the Trenches', he writes so bluntly and yet so beautifully. -
The response to this poem gets me going.
We are constantly romanticizing war. Pretending that it is a glorious and nobel activity, that everyone involved is a hero blah, blah. blah. I suppose the people who have lost someone in war have to believe the lie just to keep going (the mother in the poem). Time and time again the people who have actually been in combat (Sassoon was one of them) and survived come back to tell us the truth, that war is stupid and brutal, that it destroys peoples humanity and reduces them to animals. We shout them down or ignore them (Nico, below) and another generation of young men and woman is sent to the front to be ground into physical or emotional hash.
The fact that people go to war does not make them by definition heros. The military forces of any time or place are made up of people, some of whom are cowards, liars, cheats, rapists and murderers. the fact that they are in uniform doesn't change anything. The machine gun kills the moral and the immoral, the nobel man and the monster without distinction.
These themes are dealt with in the movie "Platoon" (the director was in combat in Vietnam). It should be required watching for any dumb ass nineteen year old who is planning to enlist.
As for judgement; since Adam eat of the apple and learned to know good from evil we have been doomed to judge our fellow men. English officers in the First World War went over the top first. They suffered a far higher rate of casualties per capita than the enlisted men did. I am confident they knew a slacker, fuck up when they saw one. -
deaths in war are always regrettable, no matter what the Captain or the CO might have thought of the dead soldier. Who gave the officer the power to judge anyway? We are all different and react differently in different situations. In Mum's eyes, her son was a hero, bugger the pompous officer.
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I liked it. It took me until the third stanza to realize that it rhymed, which is what I like in a rhyming poem. A true idea, and you made it sound good.
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Good poetry is timeless, as is war.
Charley Noble -
i like how this poem tells us how we always throw things in good light but in the end no one really cares what he truely did its all on how we would like to see what they did i think it reflects us now.
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The Hero
From guest S. (contact)
Umm.. I'm not sure, but i think there is a mistake with this poem. In the 1st stanza, 4th line, isn't it supposed to be "In the tired voice that QUAVERED to a choke." ? I have read it that way everywhere so far. I was just wondering if an error was made on my behalf or by upload of this poem.
MOD MESSAGE
A quick internet search reveals 32 citations for quivered and 162 for quavered. Until I find an actual hardcopy version I have changed this to quavered. -
His Death????
From guest James (contact)
I assume we are suppose to think he was killed by the enemy or are we suppose to think he was killed by his own men for cowardice? -
The Hero
From guest Nico (contact)
I believe this poem catches the wrong meaning of war and is very one sided.I totally disagree with the poets outlook on war for I myself fought for my country and am very proud of my serviece.None of the actions he described ever happen.War is about pride and passion and love of ones country. -
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To guest Nico
I dont think the poet is against war itself, but rather he's against the false glorification of war. He didn't like the idea that young men were being sent away to war without any real notion of what to expect in the First world war 1914-1918. -
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Sassoon served in the trenches on the western front in the First World War. He was in combat most of the time he served. His nick name in the line was Mad Jack because of his nearly suicidal bravery. He came out publicly against what he viewed as the stupid wastefulness of the war and was sent to a mental hospital rather than be court marshaled.
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Figurative language refers to words, and groups of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words.
It might be "poor OLD dear " or " lonely woman WITH WHITE HAIR" it depends on how you see the phrases. For me the best example would be "BROTHER officer"
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?????
From guest rosina (contact)
hey can any1 tell me what this poem is about i have to analyse it to my english class as part of my GCSEs and im in desparte need of help...... please help me...... -
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Your Homework
To Guest Rosina,
it would seem with Sassoon's author notes, the poem itself and all the comments underneath it that the job is nearly done.
Jim
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help ... the hero poem
From guest carli (contact)
what was the name of the son who died in the hero? -
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No Son!!
As far as I am aware this was NOT about any real person. Sassoon said that himself. Check this link.
http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-hero.html
Jim
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Suicide...
From guest Zachary (contact)
I would expect someone like Sassoon would have a lot of sympathy and empathy for someone who commited suicide or tried to go home, in "Suicide in the trenches" he has a tone of understanding and anger towards those who deem the man committing suicide a coward as they never know how it feels. SUICIDE IN THE TRENCHES was a fantastic poem... i'd recommend that one for sure... -
This poem highlights the hypocrisy of some aspects of military life.
No matter how bad a soldier someone is the regiment close ranks to outsiders and rarely speak ill of their own.
Also, having encouraged and enlisted so many men into a fight where each one could make a difference they must maintain this falsehood when reporting the meaningless deaths such as the one described here.
The efforts that the military went to, to prevent the general public knowing the lengths some soldiers would go to to get a "blighty wound".
Even the ancient phrases long since made false such as "brother officers" and the unspoken "officer and a gentleman" which even in those days were becoming ridiculous are used to create a false image.
But despite the falsehoods and the futility the pretence is worthwhile for the sake of "that lonely woman with white hair". For her love is blind to all that soldiers faults. -
I wonder if the key to the poem is in the last two lines:
"Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care
Except that lonely woman with white hair."
It's not so much a poem of cowardice, as it is the callousness of man. Whether he lived or died didn't matter, what did is that he served the cause, that his humanity was submerged to win some nameless hill or hold some imaginary line.
"Brother Officer" it's an interesting phrase, ironic I assume, for they were not in anyway "Brothers-in-arms."
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From guest Alice (contact)
i liked the poem because it shows the false realities that everyone clings to to survive. sassoon certainly did a good job -
Such respect shown to the Mother, and she, left with the knowledge that her son died bravely and honourably. Jack's officers could not tell her the truth, perhaps thinking that losing her son was enough to bear without knowing that he was a coward and no one mourned his loss. As a Mother that would have been far too much for her to live with. How difficult for a Commanding Officer to choose his words so carefully so the contempt for Jack the Coward didn't show through. Through no fault of his own, I believe, Jack was a symbol of so many youths of this time. Merely boys, expected to act as men, but how could they know just what was expected of them? Whether a man died perceived as a coward or not, the First World War should never have happened, those boys and young men should have been at home looking forward to a long life, not being blown to immeasurable pieces in a far-off trench in a foreign country.
Jacks's mother was allowed to keep her dignity and i feel that is the base of this poem. -
!!! + GCSE
From guest Lily Blossom (contact)
Anyway... I like this poem a lot. It is very hard-hitting and that is why I have chosen this one to do my essay on for English.
I like this poem. Sassoon was a magnificent poet. He is definitely one of the best poets of his time. -
Not the best, but close enough
From guest Stella (contact)
This is not my favourite Sasson poem but it is certainly very good. I don't find it as easy to understand quite as much as some of the others, but it doesn't stop it being marvellous. I'm doing war poetry for my English Lit GCSE, will go write on this poem now... -
hmmm
From guest abi (contact)
i am studying this poem for my GCSE's this is my favourite war poem because the poem was about depicting the truth , not some kind of manipulative , brainwashing propaganda. Even thought many people were brave in the war and became heroes, who can really blame jack for panicking? He was probably very young and it must have been terrible for anyone that had to fight. Its well written the way sassoon has revealed the truth about the situation and it shows both sides of the story. It really makes you think about how people were told lies to keep them happy but this doesn't mean they craved the truth. Nobody wants to think of their son or relation as a coward. Thats why so many people tried to cover up family members who had committed suicide in the trenches , rather like suicide in the trenches. -
the hero
From guest nicola (contact)
i liked the way the riming patten went as i am staing war time poetry for my g.c.s.e i also like the way the writer comes across i thisw is my fav poem -
From guest Ellie (contact)
A very sarcastic poem, has a great sense of bitterness towards the brother officer don't you think? Makes you feel really quite sympathetic towards 'Jack' and his mother. Random, but what form would you say the poem is written in? And yes i agree that the last bit is meant ironically. -
From guest Eddie Brecht (contact)
what an incredible poem, quite similar to, "The deserter" by Winifred Mary Letts??? -
A beautiful poem, so sad. A real war poem, thinking of those left behind, the mother proud of her son...sniff.
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Kind of ironical the last part. But perhaps the irony is intended as it is, or perhaps not. Though it's still there.
I liked the beginning minus the 'bowed' line in the beginning, didn't really care for the form in rhyming that gave. But I do like the beginning and the subtle yet as well somber ending.
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