To Victory - (Sassoon)

To Victory - (Sassoon)

In the first stanza Sassoon opens the poem with “Return to greet me” which I assumed he was talking about a person but in fact he misses the colours of other places; “colours that were my joy”. I think that these “colours” represent happy memories he has of his life away from the war so when he misses the colours this is a metaphor for his life outside the trenches. He uses the word “slain” to describe the killing of the soldiers, this makes the death seem like an impressive and extravagant murder that is unfair and therefore makes the reader feel sympathy. He uses nature imagery to show his preferred image; “shining as a garden” shining indicated that it is bright and sunny which creates positive visual imagery of the garden.

In the second stanza he says he wants to fill his “gaze with blue and silver” these colours have calming effects and imply cool open spaces such as the ocean. By saying he wants to “fill” his gaze it shows his desire for this image of anywhere else but the war to fill his mind completely. This could be because he wants to escape the war as it was horrific and consuming of the soldier’s lives. He again uses imagery of nature describing “roses, spires of green” this creates a positive and romantic image at the mention of roses. However he then describes it “Rising in young limbed copse and lovely wood”.  This extreme juxtaposition, first between the roses and green growing plants and the dead young body, and then the dead body and the “lovely” wood. This creates the impression that he barely notices the dead bodies at war as he makes no indication to feeling shocked or sad but only mentions it because of plants growing around it. This would have been common as soldiers would emotionally detach themselves from death so they could cope with the vast amount of deaths they would witness.

In the tired stanza he describes the guns as angry. Using personification could indicate that he not only feels the guns are angry but also the people firing them. He uses imagery to illustrate the guns going off; “boom and flash” he describes the appearance of the guns going off rather than the damage they cause, this could be because he feels that they were more for show and to make the enemy be fearful at the sound of them rather than them making much of an impact.

The final stanza starts with repetition of “return”, using repetition could indicate the repetition of him pleading for the war to disappear. He uses personification of the wind by saying “when the blithe wind laughs on the hills with uplifted voice.”  This is a very positive ending to the poem and “blithe” meaning happy or carefree and “laughs” both have very positive connotations and imply happiness.

The trenches in world war one were mud filled and the soldiers mostly only saw the insides of the trenches. I think this poem show how the soldiers would become bored of the same scenery easily and not only long for their loved ones left behind at home but for the scenery of their home towns and the memories that accompany them.