key quotations

“…but nothing happens”

Repetition of this throughout the poem gives the readers a sense of the boredom caused by waiting, it also hints at the pointlessness of war

“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east wind that knive us”

Personification and sibilance; The weather is personified to make it sound menacing and deadly, this also characterises the weather as the real enemy of the soldiers. The sibilance here highlights the intensity of the pain and brutality of the weather

“Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”

Personification; Dawn, usually associated with ideas of light and hope is here hostile and brings even more suffering

“Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey”

Colour imagery and Military vocabulary; the colour imagery ‘grey’ conveys ideas of despair and boredom. ‘Ranks’ is a military term and is repeated, reminding the reader that the weather is the soldiers’ enemy

“Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”

Nature is presented as more damaging and deadly than the bullets. The contrasting images of ‘black’ and ‘snow’ are unsettling. They highlight the horror of being exposed to the elements. They also highlight how close to death the soldiers are

“Slowly, our ghosts drag home”

Metaphor; This metaphor suggests that war has sucked all the life out of the soldiers and further reminds readers that they are on the brink of death

“All their eyes are ice”

Metaphor; this metaphor describes the extreme effects of the weather that have overcome the soldiers. It also implies that the soldiers have lost their humanity and could suggest they are close to breaking point

“For love of God seems dying”

This religious reference implies that there is lack of religiously imposed morality