Language, form and structure

• The poem is written in quatrains with an alternating rhyme. This could reflect the two different sides in war, and how they are actually more similar than they seem
• Hardy uses working-class language, such as the colloquial “nipperkin” to suggest that these are ordinary men
• The poem is written using speech marks, showing that this is the voice of a soldier
• Caesura is used at times to show that the soldier struggles to put his thoughts together