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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE FATHERS by SIEGFRIED SASSOON

Poet Analysis

First Line: SNUG AT THE CLUB TWO FATHERS SAT
Last Line: THESE IMPOTENT OLD FRIENDS OF MINE.
Subject(s): FATHERS & SONS; SOLDIERS' WRITINGS; WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;

SNUG at the club two fathers sat,
Gross, goggle-eyed, and full of chat.
One of them said: 'My eldest lad
Writes cheery letters from Bagdad.
But Arthur's getting all the fun
At Arras with his nine-inch gun.'

'Yes,' wheezed the other, 'that's the luck!
My boy's quite broken-hearted, stuck
In England training all this year.
Still, if there's truth in what we hear,
Huns intend to ask for more
Before they bolt across the Rhine.'
I watched them toddle through the door --
These impotent old friends of mine.




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