Who is Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE, MC (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war in his "Soldier's Declaration" of 1917, culminating in his admission to a military psychiatric hospital; this resulted in his forming a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him. Sassoon later won acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volu...Read Full Biography
Siegfried Sassoon Poems
- Bombardment
Four days the earth was rent and torn
By bursting steel,
The houses fell about us;
Three nights we dared not sleep, ... - Atrocities
You told me, in your drunken-boasting mood,
How once you butchered prisoners. That was good!
I'm sure you felt no pity while they stood
Patient and cowed and scared, as prisoners should. ... - 'they'
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 ... - The Portrait
I watch you, gazing at me from the wall,
And wonder how you'd match your dreams with mine,
If, mastering time's illusion, I could call
You back to share this quiet candle-shine. ... - Sassoon's Public Statement Of Defiance
'I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.
I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects witch actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.
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Top 10 most used topics by Siegfried Sassoon
Night 56 Death 38 War 37 Face 36 Green 34 White 34 Heart 33 Time 32 Light 31 Life 31Siegfried Sassoon Quotes
Comments about Siegfried Sassoon
- Thealbertflash: siegfried sassoon - famed for his anti-govt, anti-war poetry - got pulled back from the line to be a staff officer in headquarters. he used to return each night with his rifle, crawl into no-man’s land and snipe enemy sentries, just because he could.
- War_poets: 22 april 1916 siegfried sassoon writes ‘stand-to: good friday morning’ i’d been on duty from two till four. i went and stared at the dug-out door. read the rest of the poem here
- War_poets: 22 april 1917 siegfried sassoon begins drafting ‘the rearguard’ groping along the tunnel in the gloom he winked his tiny torch with whitening glare, and bumped his helmet, sniffing the hateful air.
- War_poets: 22 april 1918 siegfried sassoon includes ‘flamingoes’ (imitation of t. hardy) in his notebook.
- War_poets: 22 april 1916 siegfried sassoon leaves the front for a month at the army school.
