"They"
The Bishop tells us: "When the boys come backThey will not be the same; for they'll have foughtin a just cause: they lead the last attackOn Anti-Christ; their comrade's blood has boughtNew right to breed an honourable race.They have challenged Death and dared him face to face."
"We're none of us the same!" the boys reply."For George lost both his legs; and Bill's stone blind;Poor Jim's shot through the lungs and like to die;And Bert's gone syphilitic: you'll not findA chap who's served that hasn't found some change."And the Bishop said: "The ways of God are strange!"
Words in this poem
- syphilitic a.
- Of or pertaining to syphilis; of the nature of syphilis; affected with syphilis. [Cf. F. syphilitique.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"They" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon, Project Gutenberg ebook #45199; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Siegfried Sassoon, "They", in The War Poems (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #45199, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sassoon-war-poems/they.html, id L17245.
Form and metre
"They" is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCC backA · foughtB · attackA · boughtB · raceC · faceC
- 2 ABABCC replyA · blindB · dieA · findB · changeC · strangeC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Bishop tells us: "When the boys come back | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| They will not be the same; for they'll have fought | 10 | ·········· |
| in a just cause: they lead the last attack | 10 | ········˘/ |
| On Anti-Christ; their comrade's blood has bought | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| New right to breed an honourable race. | 10 | ·········· |
| They have challenged Death and dared him face to face." | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| "We're none of us the same!" the boys reply. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| "For George lost both his legs; and Bill's stone blind; | 10 | ·········· |
| Poor Jim's shot through the lungs and like to die; | 10 | ·········· |
| And Bert's gone syphilitic: you'll not find | 10 | ·········· |
| A chap who's served that hasn't found some change." | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And the Bishop said: "The ways of God are strange!" | 11 | ··/˘······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.