The General
Siegfried Sassoon * Track #2 On Counter-Attack and Other Poems
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Album Counter-Attack and Other Poems
The General by Siegfried Sassoon
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Siegfried SassoonAbout
Siegfried Sassoon was one of the significant War-Poets to emerge out of the first World War. Poets such as he and Wilfred Owen criticised the outdated notion of war as glorious. Instead Sassoon depicts the reality with its grotesque horrors and its inherent paradoxes.
This poem is a biting satire...
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The General Annotated
‘Good-morning; good-morning!’ the General said
When we met him last week on our way to the line.
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of ’em dead,
And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
‘He’s a cheery old card,’ grunted Harry to Jack
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.
But he did for them both by his plan of attack.