Comparison: Treatment Of War In "The Rank Stench Of Those Bodies Haunts Me Still" And "The Soldier"

Part I of Essay
"The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still" is written in alternating seven and six line stanzas. The lines are all pentameters, but there appears to be no rhyme system. Its structure seems less formal than that of "The Soldier". The opening line acts as a shock, bri ....

Part II of Essay
.... to recreate the sounds of the weapons. The shells dig pits in the fields as though ready for the wounded men to fill. The poet expresses the hope that anyone he cares for could be spared this experience, and that they get back home wounded, but alive. The lines "It's sundown in the camp; some youngster laughs, / Lifting his mug and drinking health to all / Who came unscathed from that unpitying waste:- / (Terror and ruin lurk behind his gaze.)" are deeply touching, a man tries to hide his fear behind a facade of bravado, but it is all too ....