“They”

Poetry › Siegfried Sassoon (1917)

The Bishop tells us: “When the boys come back They will not be the same; for they'll have fought In a just cause: they lead the last attack On Anti-Christ; their comrades’ blood has bought New right to breed an honourable race, 5 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 find 10 A chap who’s served that hasn’t found some change.” And the Bishop said: “The ways of God are strange!”

Works Cited

• Norton . . .