Who's for the trench—
Are you, my laddie?
Who'll follow French—
Will you, my laddie?
Who's fretting to begin,
Who's going out to win?
And who wants to save his skin—
Do you, my laddie?
Who's for the khaki suit—
Are you, my laddie?
Who longs to charge and shoot—
Do you, my laddie?
Who's keen on getting fit,
Who means to show his grit,
And who'd rather wait a bit—
Would you, my laddie?
Who'll earn the Empire's thanks—
Will you, my laddie?
Who'll swell the victor's ranks—
Will you, my laddie?
When that procession comes,
Banners and rolling drums—
Who'll stand and bite his thumbs—
Will you, my laddie?
Jessie Pope
Throughout this poem Pope uses a great tone of sarcasm, for example: "Will you, my laddie?" 'My laddie' could be viewed as a sarcastic tone towards the people who were not keen on signing up, it could be interpreted that Pope is mocking those people who did not agree with the concept of war.
ReplyDeletePope may use rhetorical questions to give off a sense of guilt and also pressurise those who have not already joined up for war, 'will you, my laddie'? Pope may be pressurising the men into war while also targetting them as individuals as she constantly repeats 'you'.
DeleteI agree with Charlotte's comment that this poem uses a great deal of sarcasm, "will you my laddie" is repeated constantly throughout the poem as a rhetorical question. In order to direct her question at the audience that she is focusing on, in this case it is directed to the men within society. The fact Pope refers to the men as 'laddie' shows that she is speaking to them as a friend, which could be seen as very patroising in order to encourage the men to join war. During the second stanzer, the use of significant term 'khaki suit' is used as a honourable prize that must be won with respect, this may discourage recruits from joining as they may feel not worthy enough.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree , the hyphens could also suggest how continuous war is and how much propaganda was seen as the speaker is almost influential in the way it advertises war by imagery of 'victors rank' and 'empires thanks'as a trophy only given to the brave , who sign up. This could encourage the opposite view of cowardice and therefore link to sarcasm in the way the poem mocks the soldier's . Sarcasm could also be not awarding the soldiers but thinking the opposite to what the speaker means . This mean the poem may be negative towards war.
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