Usage of Elements of the Early War ’Lie’ in Sassoon’s Late War Poetry

Abstract

The First World War’s themes and topics are still topical in the light of modern conflicts in the world, as the concerns of the people who participated in the first world war have resurfaced again for example in Ukraine where very similar kind of trench warfare is going on. This thesis takes a look at the cultural influences at the start of the 20th century that coloured the way Siegfried Sassoon looked at his experiences at the Western Front and at the home front and how he arrived at his feeling of disillusionment and the reflection of this disillusionment in his war poetry. The thesis first looks at how the ideas concerning war were shaped by the Victorian chivalric revival of the 19th century that led to two million men volunteering in 1914-1916, the influence of war propaganda on the soldiers themselves and the home front which led to Siegfried Sassoon’s revaluing of his wartime experience in his poetry of 1916-1918. The thesis consists of two chapters. The literature review which is divided into three parts looks at society at the start of the 20th century and Sassoon’s upbringing, the start of the first world war in 1914 and Sassoon’s eager enlistment and from 1916 onwards his “Wilful Defiance of Military Authority”. The second chapter examines closely a selection of Sassoon’s war poems using the method of close reading in order to highlight how Sassoon uses the elements of early war propaganda in his antiwar messaging. The paper ends with a conclusion and the Resume in Estonian.

Keywords: Siegfried Sassoon, poetry, propaganda, First World War