Siegfried Sassoon - Died of Wounds

His wet white face and miserable eyes 
Brought nurses to him more than groans and sighs: 
But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fell 
His troubled voice: he did the business well. 

The ward grew dark; but he was still complaining 
And calling out for ‘Dickie’. ‘Curse the Wood! 
‘It’s time to go. O Christ, and what’s the good? 
‘We’ll never take it, and it’s always raining.’ 

I wondered where he’d been; then heard him shout, 
‘They snipe like hell! O Dickie, don’t go out... 
I fell asleep ... Next morning he was dead; 
And some Slight Wound lay smiling on the bed.

Sassoon was a brave and well- respected officer. He won the military cross for courage and fought at several battles, yet he also detested the slaughter and the misconduct of the war by generals and politicians. Sassoon's poems are aimed to tell the truth about the war that he had fought in. He used a plain, direct style, often bringing in soldiers slang. Also a pattern of sharp lines often leads to a ' knock - out blow' in the last verse. Died of the Wounds was based on a dying soldier who Sassoon had seen in a hospital near the Somme in July 1916.

This line indicates that the nurses came to him more because of his pain and the look of his face. He describes the physical condition of the dying soldier. By saying " he did the business well", highlights that he was a good soldier who was in the thick of the war. Some people said at the time of ww1 that people who came back wounded are looked up to as heroes of the war. Sassoon concentrates on sounds to show that the soldier is dying in a troubled way, that he was not happy and that it wasn't a peaceful way to die.

To warn one of the soldiers Sassoon says, " O Dicke, don't go out". The phrase " Slightly Wounded" describes the dying soldier as a casualty of the war. At the very end of the poem he uses the word " smiling " to emphasises that the wounded solider is at peace at last. In comparison, Wilfred Owen also fought in the www1 like Sassoon knows the dangers, terror and suffering that war causes. I feel that the poem benefits from Sassoon's experiences in the war, as he knows the truth about war. In this poem Sassoon aimed to upset people who glorified war. Sassoon in the poem has the ability to use very few words but they say a lot in them.

This poem emphasises the physical horror of WW1 where thousands of soldiers died of wounds and blood pour.