Siegfried Sassoon

Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) was an English poet, writer, and soldier best known for his powerful anti-war poetry during and after World War I. His experiences in the trenches deeply influenced his work, and he became a prominent voice of protest against the war's brutality. His famous works include "Counter-Attack" (1918), a collection of war poems, and "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" (1930), part of a semi-autobiographical trilogy. Sassoon was also awarded the Military Cross for bravery but later became a pacifist, openly criticizing the war's futility.

Author's Books:


INTRODUCTION Sassoon the Man In appearance he is tall, big-boned, loosely built. He is clean-shaven, pale or with a flush; has a heavy jaw, wide mouth with the upper lip slightly protruding and the curve of it very pronounced like that of a shrivelled leaf (as I have noticed is common in many poets). His nose is aquiline, the nostrils being wide and heavily arched. This characteristic and the fullness,... more...

I PRELUDE: THE TROOPS Dim, gradual thinning of the shapeless gloomShudders to drizzling daybreak that revealsDisconsolate men who stamp their sodden bootsAnd turn dulled, sunken faces to the skyHaggard and hopeless. They, who have beaten downThe stale despair of night, must now renewTheir desolation in the truce of dawn,Murdering the livid hours that grope for peace. Yet these, who cling to life with... more...