... is just a quick glance of the physical turmoil the soldiers are faced with. The end second stanza deals with a gas attack where all the men are rushing to put their gas masks on. One man is not fortunate enough to get his on in time. The lines, "under a green sea, I saw him drowning" (14) and " . . . before my helpless sight"(15) tell the reader that despite the number of people that are there ... " (11-12) because he "threw away his knees" (10) The women all touch him like a "queer disease" and he is alienated from them. In the third section and the sections following, the soldier is co...

• Word Count: 1643
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... is thick and green, making the atmosphere thick and the light green. The next metaphor featured occurs in the next line - As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. This situation is linked to the earlier use of the word floundering, and carries on the sea theme in a more definite way. The man is giving up the fight, onomatopoeic of the desperate fight for air under a sea. The "sea" in this situation is actually a cloud of green gas, but the effect is the same; suffocation and frantic ... episodes. His last two lines are the main subject of the poem and include the title itself. Although...

• Word Count: 2354
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... young men appear to the speaker as old beggars? The simile begs the reader to consider the conditions they endured. Visualize these old yet young men cursing through the sludge. A sense of monotony is evident with the use of the word sludge. The march must have seemed endless and boring to the casual observer. Reading these lines makes you feel tired and weary, sympathetic to their plight. The third and fourth lines continue the tone and theme of the first two. "Till ... , guttering, choking, drowning." The speaker has now identified himself as the main character. The impressions and des...

• Word Count: 1459
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School