What is the significance of lie
Could just show how they are lying out in the trenches but also is a homophone of how they are lying about being patriotic
How long are the syllables
They are very long mirroring the long time the solders are there
Pause over
Pause over half known faces all their eyes are ice, but nothing happens
What is the significance of half known
Shows they are not making connections as they know it will be harder when they eventually die
What is the significance of eyes are ice
The body’s are stiff and frozen and the eyes are literally frozen but shows how the living soldiers and cold and unemotional with cold eyes of ice
Why are the short lines at the end of the stanzas significant
Shows the political message and how he wants the end of shortening of the war and need for clothing for battling the cold
Merciless
Merciless iced east winds that knife us
What is the significance of Merciless iced east winds that knife us
Could literally show how the wind is so cold it feels like knifes but is also personified and creates the idea that the weather is more dangerous than the “nothing” of war. This establishes the ideas of the futility of war as the soldiers have to stay on edge, adrenaline fuelled but in the end it is the weather that kills them
What poems does it link well with
Charge of the light brigade - futility of war
