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that you wont forget, but knows that you will. The stanzas in the middle describe his war experience, which was radically different from what the civilian populace would have lived through. This juxtaposition highlights again the differing experiences of the First World War, and the disconnect that existed at the time. There were no embedded reporters, and all the news was second-hand and government censored.

Lines 12-24 are very characteristic of Sassoon; the vivid description of the trench warfare and the raw emotion are very distinct. Note that within the same stanza he maintains a consistent rhyme scheme, something that was lost in more modern poetry. The rhyme offsets his dark narrative, and recalls some of the feel of classical poetry. The pastoral reference in the last line is in a similar vein. It references the traditional pastoral theme, but is a radically different context. Here it is not simply a pretty landscape, but the light at the end of the war, a relief and contrast to the mud and slime of trench warfare. Taken together, these contribute to a feeling of lost pre-war innocence. As a whole, Sassoon is cautioning the reader not to lapse into the old ways of thinking; not to forget the horror and losses of the fist world war.

Sadly, line 17 would prove to be all too prophetic, as the Second World War broke out in 1939.

Note: The works of Sassoon are in the public domain in the United States, and its author is noted, thus its reprinting here should not constitute plagiarism.

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