A Working Party Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGH IJKLMN JOPQRSTUVW AXYV ZA2B2C2D2E2F2 G2H2FI2J2HK2X L2VM2N2O2| Three hours ago he blundered up the trench | A |
| Sliding and poising groping with his boots | B |
| Sometimes he tripped and lurched against the walls | C |
| With hands that pawed the sodden bags of chalk | D |
| He couldn't see the man who walked in front | E |
| Only he heard the drum and rattle of feet | F |
| Stepping along barred trench boards often splashing | G |
| Wretchedly where the sludge was ankle deep | H |
| - | |
| Voices would grunt 'Keep to your right make way ' | - |
| When squeezing past some men from the front line | I |
| White faces peered puffing a point of red | J |
| Candles and braziers glinted through the chinks | K |
| And curtain flaps of dug outs then the gloom | L |
| Swallowed his sense of sight he stooped and swore | M |
| Because a sagging wire had caught his neck | N |
| - | |
| A flare went up the shining whiteness spread | J |
| And flickered upward showing nimble rats | O |
| And mounds of glimmering sand bags bleached with rain | P |
| Then the slow silver moment died in dark | Q |
| The wind came posting by with chilly gusts | R |
| And buffeting at corners piping thin | S |
| And dreary through the crannies rifle shots | T |
| Would split and crack and sing along the night | U |
| And shells came calmly through the drizzling air | V |
| To burst with hollow bang below the hill | W |
| - | |
| Three hours ago he stumbled up the trench | A |
| Now he will never walk that road again | X |
| He must be carried back a jolting lump | Y |
| Beyond all need of tenderness and care | V |
| - | |
| He was a young man with a meagre wife | Z |
| And two small children in a Midland town | A2 |
| He showed their photographs to all his mates | B2 |
| And they considered him a decent chap | C2 |
| Who did his work and hadn't much to say | D2 |
| And always laughed at other people's jokes | E2 |
| Because he hadn't any of his own | F2 |
| - | |
| That night when he was busy at his job | G2 |
| Of piling bags along the parapet | H2 |
| He thought how slow time went stamping his feet | F |
| And blowing on his fingers pinched with cold | I2 |
| He thought of getting back by half past twelve | J2 |
| And tot of rum to send him warm to sleep | H |
| In draughty dug out frowsty with the fumes | K2 |
| Of coke and full of snoring weary men | X |
| - | |
| He pushed another bag along the top | L2 |
| Craning his body outward then a flare | V |
| Gave one white glimpse of No Man's Land and wire | M2 |
| And as he dropped his head the instant split | N2 |
| His startled life with lead and all went out | O2 |
Siegfried Sassoon
(2)
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About A Working Party
A Working Party is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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