Analysis of A Letter Home
Siegfried Sassoon 1886 (Matfield) – 1967 (Heytesbury)
(To Robert Graves)
Here I'm sitting in the gloom
Of my quiet attic room.
France goes rolling all around,
Fledged with forest May has crowned.
And I puff my pipe, calm-hearted,
Thinking how the fighting started,
Wondering when we'll ever end it,
Back to hell with Kaiser sent it,
Gag the noise, pack up and go,
Clockwork soldiers in a row.
I've got better things to do
Than to waste my time on you.
Robert, when I drowse to-night,
Skirting lawns of sleep to chase
Shifting dreams in mazy light,
Somewhere then I'll see your face
Turning back to bid me follow
Where I wag my arms and hollo,
Over hedges hasting after
Crooked smile and baffling laughter,
Running tireless, floating, leaping,
Down your web-hung woods and valleys,
Where the glowworm stars are peeping,
Till I find you, quiet as stone
On a hill-top all alone,
Staring outward, gravely pondering
Jumbled leagues of hillock-wandering.
You and I have walked together
In the starving winter weather.
We've been glad because we knew
Time's too short and friends are few.
We've been sad because we missed
One whose yellow head was kissed
By the gods, who thought about him
Till they couldn't do without him.
Now he's here again; I've been
Soldier David dressed in green,
Standing in a wood that swings
To the madrigal he sings.
He's come back, all mirth and glory,
Like the prince in a fairy tory.
Winter called him far away;
Blossoms bring him home with May.
Well, I know you'll swear it's true
That you found him decked in blue
Striding up through morning-land
With a cloud on either hand.
Out in Wales, you'll say, he marches
Arm-in-arm with aoks and larches;
Hides all night in hilly nooks,
Laughs at dawn in tumbling brooks.
Yet, it's certain, here he teaches
Outpost-schemes to groups of beeches.
And I'm sure, as here I stand,
That he shines through every land,
That he sings in every place
Where we're thinking of his face.
Robert, there's a war in France;
Everywhere men bang and blunder,
Sweat and swear and worship Chance,
Creep and blink through cannon thunder.
Rifles crack and bullets flick,
Sing and hum like hornet-swarms.
Bones are smashed and buried quick.
Yet, through stunning battle storms,
All the while I watch the spark
Lit to guide me; for I know
Dreams will triumph, though the dark
Scowls above me where I go.
You can hear me; you can mingle
Radiant folly with my jingle.
War's a joke for me and you
While we know such dreams are true!
Scheme | A BBCCDDEEFFGG HIHIFFJJKXKLLKK JJGGMMNNXXOOPPQQ GGRRXASSXARRII TJTJUVUVWFWFXXGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101 1110001 1110101 1110101 1110111 01111110 10101010 100111011 11111011 1011101 110001 1110111 1111111 1011111 1011111 101011 111111 10111110 1111101 10101010 101010010 101001010 11111010 1011110 11111011 1011101 101010100 101110100 10111010 00101010 1110111 1110111 1110111 1110111 10111011 11101011 1110111 1010101 1000111 1010011 11111010 101001010 1011101 1011111 1111111 1111101 1011101 1011101 10111110 1011101 1110101 11101001 11101110 111111 0111111 11111001 11101001 1110111 1010101 1011010 1010101 10111010 1010101 1011101 1110101 1110101 1011101 1111111 1110101 1011111 11111110 100101110 1011101 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,440 |
Words | 437 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 12, 15, 16, 14, 16 |
Lines Amount | 74 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 315 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 2:16 min read
- 236 Views
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"A Letter Home" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34828/a-letter-home>.
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