Soldier returned from the war

Unable to do something as disabled

regarded as normal

Disabled

Alliteration loss of limbs means

that he relies on others and unable
Unnamed loss of identity and to do usual tasks. He is waiting for
Colour imagery negative
representative of many death
colours, menacing, depressing
Contrasts with his later and empty
reference the warmth of his He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
past. Neglected by society Alliteration alludes to a vestige
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Simile and religious imagery of a ghost and so death.
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
hymns are usually positive,
except in a funeral. Alluding Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn, Alliteration and repetition he
to death. has regressed to a childlike
Voices of play and pleasure after day, dependency state, but does not
Metaphor he is ostracized have their freedom.
and alienated from the rest Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him. Metaphor he is no longer
of society, as reality is not
masculine, women are
where he finds peace
carers for him.
Personification elegiac,
mourning the past. Past and About this time Town used to swing so gay Colour imagery dim
present juxtaposed finds
peace When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees unlike dark has
romantic connotations,
Alliteration links idealised And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim, associated with the girls
images together of his youth.
In the old times, before he threw away his knees. Metaphor self-
Time - elegiac and lamenting
acknowledgment and guilt
his past. He is very final and Now he will never feel again how slim
definite of his prospects. in partial responsibility for
Denying himself happiness Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands, his condition, reckless,
Metaphor he experiences careless
self-hatred and loathing at All of them touch him like some queer disease. Pun he seems strange to
his own condition, since he others reflecting his social
finds his own body repulsive displacement, whilst
There was an artist silly for his face, queer also alludes to the
Time and alliteration he has
aged prematurely as a result For it was younger than his youth, last year. lack of female contact he
of war, not only physical now has. A diseased society
effects but also effects on his Now he is old; his back will never brace; manifested through war
psyche
Colour imagery - He's lost his colour very far from here, Metaphor associates his
deliberate, intense
understatement
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry, naivety and innocence in
conscribing as a soldier to
Colour imagery and And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race, his shortened life and
personification a injuries.
grotesque scene
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.

Sports imagery contrasts Ellipses he has a strong

sports which was masculine sense of regret for joining
and victorious with war. He One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg,
the war as he realises he
created an identity for
After the matches carried shoulder-high. was not acting rational and
himself as a hero and was
intoxicated by it so wanted to It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg, did not understand the
captialise on this ephemeral true consequences.
successes He thought he'd better join. He wonders why . . .
 Scottish references he was a
member of one of the Scottish
regiments and he joined up
Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts. for reasons of vanity. These
The sadness of the soldier's are merely superficial as the
plight is heightened. Clearly capricious jilts, women who
he was under-aged when he
enlisted and therefore is still
That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg, are unpredictable and
impulsive, will leave him if he
young. It alludes to the Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts, returns injured
corruption surrounding the
conscription system and there He asked to join. He didn't have to beg; Alliteration the order
recruiters are culpable. and appearance appealed
Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years. to him, contrasts the
truth of war.
Personification and Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fears
capitalisation the
embodiment of fear Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
in war.
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;

And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;

Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.

And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.

Sports imagery and
capitalisation though he
has sacrificed and achieved Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
far more, society is less
concerned. Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Religious lexis suggests
Personification his Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.
that all that is left is his
passivity is evident, he has
no control over his life
Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes, soul, as his body has
deteriorated, which alludes
anymore as he is reduced to And do what things the rules consider wise, to death
a state of dependency and
helplessness And take whatever pity they may dole.

Enjambments - he has lost To-night he noticed how the women's eyes

all attractiveness as a man. Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
It is cruelly ironic as he
relies on women putting How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
him to bed, yet a year ago And put him into bed? Why don't they come?
it would have been him
taking women to bed.
Rhetorical question exemplifies his
loneliness and alienation from society, as
well as his high dependence on others. Yet
he has not yet truly accepted the extent of
his physiological and physical damage.