AN ANALYSIS OF “AFTERMATH,” EXPLAINING THE MEANING AND QUALITY THAT COULD BE BROUGHT OUT WHEN SPEAKING THE PASSAGE ALOUD.
...l maintaining attention. The next few lines show the listener as a “man reprieved to go” taking “peaceful share of time,” with “joy to spare.” These lines would be spoken smoothly, fluently with a contented almost sentimental nature, however the following three lines of: “But the past is just the same- and War’s a bloody game… Have you forgotten yet?... Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you’ll never forget.” Would be spoken with the urgency, resentment and anger that match the importance of the words. The language used would further develop the performance: for instance “bloody game” is a double connotation. However it is the meaning is what really enhances “aftermath.” This is as it is very different to typical war poems and is directed at those who survived. The meaning is very self explanatory simply saying not to forget the horrors and misery of war, what people went through to provide the “joy to spare,” while providing various image evoking examples. The next stanza is much more specific in detail, citing examples such as “the dark months at Mametz” this prompts people to remember experiences and what people went through, this works to provoke strong mental imagery; for instance “ Do you remember the stench of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench?” this is used to shock the listener. To achieve this Sassoon uses short lines, alliteration, e.g. “watched and wired,” and, lets the performer ask, as if in conversation, many rhetorical questions. An example of this is “Do you ever stop and ask, Is it all going to happen again?” These methods allow the meaning to be conveyed with maximum impact and therefore quality as the writing is much more personal to the listener. The second to last verse induces many more images when spoken, of for example the “haggard faces of your men.” Furthermore if the speaker names the author, Siegfried Sassoon, at the beginning of the poem, many in the a...