Question

Describe the tone of each stanza in Siegfried Sassoon’s poem “Suicide in Trenches.” Provide textual evidence to support your answer.

Answer 1

Here's the sample answer (Plato)

Sassoon begins the poem with a happy tone. The speaker describes the life of a good-natured, innocent boy who is far from the horrors of the war:

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark

As the poem progresses, Sassoon shifts to a melancholy tone to describe the increasing depression of this once-joyful and lively boy. His miserable life in wartime breaks his spirit and pushes him to commit suicide in order to free himself from the suffering and hardship:

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.

Sassoon ends the poem with a bitter and sarcastic tone that mocks British civilians, who he believes will never understand the horrible realities of war as they cheer the returning soldiers:

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.

Answer 2

The poem with a happy tone. The speaker describes the life of a boy who is experiencing the horrors of the war:

"I knew a simple soldier boy

Who grinned at life in empty joy,

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

And whistled early with the lark As the poem progresses,"

The author then moves to a melancholy tone to describe the depression of this boy. His life during the war breaks him and he ends up c0mmitting su|cide in order to be free:

"In winter trenches,

cowed and glum,

With crumps and lice and lack of rum,

He put a bullet through his brain."

The author ends the poem mocking the British people, who he believes will never understand the horrible realities of war as they cheer the returning soldiers:

"You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you'll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go."

Step-by-step explanation:

I just took the sample answer and put it into my own words.