The General - Siegfried Sassoon

• "Good morning; Good morning! the General said"- Enthusiasm despite the horrors that are unfolding.
• "Now the soldiers he smiled at most of 'em dead" - Attack on the conduct of war. The colloquialism creates an air of casualty to this occurence. It is becoming ordinary to see this monstrosity occur.
• 'And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine" - Insight into the mood of the front line. Fed up with seeing their own men die for no reason.
• Sass wrote this poem in May 1917 when he was sent home wounded from the front.
• Majority of poem is 1-2 syllable words and very simplistic. Suggests that this conflict is very simple to understand - it's wrong and there's no two way to go about it.
• "He's a cheery old card" Grunted Harry to Jack. More colloqualism. Creates an unsettling atmosphere, as the casualty of this remark actually has a very serious aim. Amidst this agony, the general is cheery and jovial. Present the authorities of war as narrow-sighted and arrogant.
• "As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack" An image of inevitable death.
• "Harry" and "Jack" are generalised British names, adding to this notion that they will die inevitably just like the other harry and jack's in the army were. A cycle of inhumane deaths is created.
• "But he did for them both with his plan of attack" Ending has sort of a nursery rhyme jingle to it. "CCC" Rhyme scheme in the last 3 lines. Colloqualism + Nursery rhyme scheme portrays this conflict as a joke.
• The themes are: Authority, futility of human life, and futility of war.