The Rear Guard Presentation Notes PDF
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Uploaded by InvaluableOtter1455
Harvard University
Flynn Massey
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Summary
These notes provide a presentation on Siegfried Sassoon's poem "The Rear Guard." The analysis focuses on imagery and emotional tone, linking them to the experiences of World War I. Additional notes also provide deeper understanding and context to the poem.
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1 The Rear Guard - by Siegfried Sasson Presentation Notes oem: P Groping along the tunnel, step by step, He winked his prying torch with patching glare rom side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air. F...
1 The Rear Guard - by Siegfried Sasson Presentation Notes oem: P Groping along the tunnel, step by step, He winked his prying torch with patching glare rom side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air. F Tins, boxes, bottles, shapes and too vague to know; A mirror smashed, the mattress from a bed; And he, exploring fifty feet below The rosy gloom of battle overhead. Tripping, he grabbed the wall; saw someone lie Humped at his feet, half-hidden by a rug. And stooped to give the sleeper’s arm a tug. “I’m looking for headquarters.” No reply. “God blast your neck!” (For days he’d had no sleep.) “Get up and guide me through this stinking place.” Savage, he kicked a soft, unanswering heap, And flashed his beam across the livid face Terribly glaring up, whose eyes yet wore Agony dying hard of ten days before; And fists of fingers clutched a blackening wound. lone he staggered on until he found A Dawn's ghost that filtered down a shafted stair To the dazed, muttering creatures underground Who hear the boom of shells in muffled sound. At last, with sweat and horror in his hair, He climbed through darkness to the twilight air, Unloading hell behind him step by step. 2 Line (See Above) Ideas About The Line “ Get up and guide me through this stinking L ivid works on multiple levels as one place. Savage, he kicked a soft, unanswering definition being “furiously angry” and heap, and flashed his beam across thelivid the other meaning “dark bluish gray in face” color” as in bruises. So this man was angry and scared, but also had bruises on his face “ And fists of fingers clutched a blackening S hows imagery and connects to the wound” emotional mood of dreariness and desperation. The soldier had been alone and forgotten. The Dead man could be the winner, having already unloaded hell behind him This was regular and happened all the time o the dazed, muttering creatures T W eapons such as mortars and underground starbursts (Which made a big sparkle Who hear the boom of shells in muffled in the sky like a firework, and would sound. send new soldiers running away from it, scared, only to be picked off by snipers Some people were just “Waiting to die,” Boredom was common on the front Additional Notes Everything in a poem is technically imagery, so dig deeper - because EVERYTHING is sight, so look for other senses (Smell, touch, even taste) All movies of the book, All Quiet on the Western Front stay true to the theme of the book, anti-war Something done in WWI was when one side would run from one trench to another, immediately putting everything into danger An Allusion is a reference in a text. For example, “our love is doomed like Romeo and Juliet” 3
