Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MEMORIAL TABLET (GREAT WAR, 1918), by SIEGFRIED SASSOON


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MEMORIAL TABLET (GREAT WAR, 1918), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Squire nagged and bullied till I went to fight
Last Line: What greater glory could a man desire?
Subject(s): Mourning; World War I; Bereavement; First World War


(GREAT WAR)

SQUIRE nagged and bullied till I went to fight,
(Under Lord Derby's Scheme). I died in hell --
(They called it Passchendaele). My wound was slight,
And I was hobbling back; and then a shell
Burst slick upon the duck-boards: so I fell
Into the bottomless mud, and lost the light.

At sermon-time, while Squire is in his pew,
He gives my gilded name a thoughtful stare:
For, though low down upon the list, I'm there;
'In proud and glorious memory' ... that's my due.
Two bleeding years I fought in France, for Squire:
I suffered anguish that he's never guessed.
Once I came home on leave: and then went west...
What greater glory could a man desire?






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