Lamentations

== =‘Lamentations’= =Siegfried Sassoon=

Sassoon’s poem, “Lamentations”, is a funeral song. The speaker of the poem describes the pain and anguish of a young soldier, who after having been told of the death of his brother, had to be removed to the guard room. The speaker, hearing the pain of the grieved man, entered the guard room where the young soldier had broken down. A sergeant looks on puzzled and patiently at the man half-naked kneeling on the floor. The guard appears to lack compassion and understanding for the situation of the grieving man.

The poem establishes a contrast between the reality of war as experienced by the grieving soldier and the sergeant who has experienced no personal cost for the war. The soldier who has lost his brother is in such despair he would not be interested in fighting for a country which has effectively killed his brother.

IMAGERY AND LANGUAGE
This poem relies on montage. It is a single scene in the guard room and one which depicts the violence of grief. This is displayed in the verbs ‘moaned’, ‘shouted’, ’sobbed’, ‘choked’, ‘howled’ and ‘beat’. The use of a list is employed to show the situation rising in violence and despair. All the language is familiar and universal to the reader and this helps Sassoon to establish his perspective. The scene is also reminiscent of a child’s tantrum and this helps to display the futility of war.

STRUCTURE
The structure of the poem aids the impression it gives of being an eye-witness account, creating a sense of intimacy with the reader as the speaker imparts what he has seen. The use of enjambment in the poem aids flow between lines and sentences reinforcing the idea that this is a story being recalled from memory.

THINKING POINTS

 * 1) What are the similarities between “Lamentations” and Sassoon’s “The Hero”?