Will it be so again

Question 1

Will it be so again?

Answer 1

• rhetorical question engages
• possibility of a second world war
• questions in a despairing tone

Question 2

That the brave, the gifted are lost from view,

Answer 2

• reminds us of the loss from the previous war

Question 3

And the empty, scheming men

Answer 3

• politicians using their power to manipulate

Question 4

Are left in peace their lunatic age to renew?

Answer 4

• refers to the madness of WW1

Question 5

Will it be so again?

Answer 5

-

Question 6

Must it be always so

Answer 6

• suggests a huge loss of life in WW1

Question 7

That the best are chose to fall and sleep

Answer 7

• a potential generation were lost

- politicians stayed, soldiers were lost

Question 8

Like seeds, and we too slow

Answer 8

• Linked to deaths

Question 9

In claiming the earth they quicken, and the old usurpers reap

Answer 9

• linked to the purpose of war (gain power)

- quick advance

Question 10

What they could not sow?

Answer 10

• allusion to a biblical expression
• links back to the politicians
• makes us question the ways of the politicians

Question 11

Will it be so again –

Answer 11

• amplifies the speaker’s horror

Question 12

The jungle code and the hypocrite gesture?

Answer 12

• brutality and savagery

- politicians and their facade

Question 13

A poppy wreath for the slain

Answer 13

• symbolises an act of remembrance

Question 14

And a cut-throat world for the living? That stale imposture

Answer 14

• violent manipulative world

- tired of the disingenuousness

Question 15

Played on us once again?

Answer 15

• suggests it happened before

Question 16

Will it be as before –

Answer 16

• reminds of a familiar experience

Question 17

Peace, with no heart or mind to ensure it,

Answer 17

• there will be peace but with no heart or mind (the lack of compassion the politicians have)

Question 18

Gutting down to war

Answer 18

• highlights the deterioration

Question 19

Like a libertine to his grave? We should not be surprised: we knew it

Answer 19

• those without morals
• a sense of weariness
• we provides a sense of many being affected

Question 20

Happen before.

Answer 20

-

Question 21

Shall it be so again?

Answer 21

• war is inevitable

- attitude of hopelessness

Question 22

Call not upon the glorious dead

Answer 22

• a reminder of those who dies in WW1

- there was nothing glorious but their deaths

Question 23

To be your witness then.

Answer 23

• they can not be a witness because they are already dead

Question 24

The living alone can nail to their promise the ones who said

Answer 24

• speakers belief in those who are alive need to make the politicians accountable

Question 25

It shall not be so again.

Answer 25

• bleakness and disparity

Question 26

Overview

Answer 26

• consistent rhyme scheme throughout
• enjambment (7-10 ; 14-15; 18-20 ; 24-25) contains a sense of inevitability
• slow, reinforcing hopelessness and desolation