The+Deserter

=‘The Deserter’= =Winifred M. Letts=

In the First World War many soldiers suffered from shell shock, which was not generally recognized as a condition at the time. They ran off from the guns and were shot as deserters. The speaker of Winifred M. Letts’s poem tells of the fate of a deserter; the deserter is not named – it could be any soldier.

The story of the deserter is told sympathetically, imagining the fear felt by the soldier who ran off only to be caught and shot by his own army. The speaker tells of the deserter’s mother who thinks her son died a hero, serving his country in battle. The speaker suggests that it is best for the mother not to know that her son “lies in a deserter’s grave”.

IMAGERY AND LANGUAGE
“Fear had dogged by night and day” **personification** //Emphasises the strong feelings of fear felt by the soldier. Suggests that Fear has its own will separate to the will of the person who experiences it.// “who can judge him, you or I?” **Rhetoric** //The speaker suggests that it is not the place of the others to judge the deserter’s guilt// “was scared as any frightened child” **simile** //Suggests the vulnerability of the soldier, provokes sympathy from the reader.// “throbbing heart and sobbing breathe” **Internal rhyme** //The repetition of sound mimics the repetitious pounding of the deserter’s heart. It emphasizing the physical experience of fear as something that takes over the body.// “I’ve seen a hare with eyes as wild” **Simile** //The comparison to a hare emphasizes again the fragility of the soldier but also suggests the erratic and unpredictable manner in which the deserter ran off// “An English bullet in his heart!” **repetition** //Suggests the disbelief of the speaker that such killings should occur//

STRUCTURE
Beginning the poem with “There was a man” gives the poem a story-like structure, and the man remains nameless – suggesting this could be the fate of any man.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is based on repetition of whole words and phrases – “turned and ran away”, “to die”, “wild”, “death”, “when the dawn was grey”, “An English bullet in his heart”, “strife”. All of the repeated phrases serve to emphasise the speaker’s sympathy for the deserter.

In the closing lines of the poem the poet rhymes “gave” with “grave” linking the image of the mother giving her son to war with an image of death.

THINKING POINTS

 * 1) Winifred Letts feels a sense of outrage and injustice at the treatment of the deserter. What are the main ways she communicates these feelings?
 * 2) Why do you think the army lied to the families of deserters about the way in which they died? Do you think it was right or wrong?

MRS ALI's CLASS POWERPOINT