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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SURVIVORS by SIEGFRIED SASSOON

Poet Analysis

First Line: NO DOUBT THEY'LL SOON GET WELL; THE SHOCK AND STRAIN
Last Line: CHILDREN, WITH EYES THAT HATE YOU, BROKEN AND MAD.
Subject(s): SOLDIERS' WRITINGS; WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;

NO doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,' --
These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died, --
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride...
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad.




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