T H E N A I V E F I L M M A K E R

Siegfried Sassoon was a notable WWI poet, a decorated officer who stirred controversy with his powerful imagery and antiwar message.

My first response to Dreamers is unsettlement at the harsh realities of the war, the effects of the poem prove harrowing with the violent and depressing imagery used to describe the conditions of trench warfare. This effect is only highlighted when compared to the more dreamy and pleasant descriptions of the pleasant and ordinary lives the soldiers are dreaming about.

My second response is a shared anger at the callous system that allows humans to suffer the unpleasantness that Sassoon describes. The description of “Dreamer” humanizes the soldiers so the initial shock at conditions grows into a deep sadness for the men’s suffering and disgust at the system allowing it.

Sassoon has used a number of poetic techniques to achieve this reaction.

Petrarchan Sonnet. Dreamers is written in two parts Octet and Sestet (14 lines total). Written with a purpose, introducing to me and causing me to reflect upon the horrors of the war. The use of Volta between the realities of trench warfare and the subjects of dreams remind me that among the harshness of trench warfare are men who just want life to return to normal and add an extra melancholic effect.

Imagery. Violent lines such as “Death’s Grey Land”, “Fatal, Flaming Climax” paint a picture of the vile conditions of the Somme while more dreamy lines like “Firelit homes, clean beds and wives” offer juxtaposition of the lives that men should be living and the ones that they are. Further adding to the sadness I felt as I read.

Rhyme. The poem makes use of rhyming throughout; Land/Stand, Tomorrows/Sorrows, Win/Begin and Lives/Wives. The use of rhyme serves to make the poem more recitable thus immortalizing the melancholy in my mind and the mind of the many readers at the time of its publication in 1918.

Dreamers works hard to achieve two goals. The first is to get across the horrors being inflicted on humans. The description of the soldiers as dreamers reminds the reader that the war was being fought by individuals all of whom had hopes and dreams, who wanted to return to their lives of “Bank holidays, and picture shows, and spats”. Sassoon makes use of juxtaposition, so the reader is in his shoes, living in “Foul Dugouts, gnawed by rats”. While dreaming of “Firelit homes, clean beds and wives”. We witness how important dreaming is to get the soldiers through warfare “soldiers are dreamers, when the guns begin”. But are frequently reminded how few get to live to make those dreams a reality.

The second goal is one of protest, Sassoon made his hatred of the war no secret and stirred up controversy by accusing governments of letting it continue longer than they had to. The nature of a Petrarchan Sonnet is often to demonstrate a problem, express desires and reflect on reality. The rhyming nature of the poem makes it more recitable and ensures that some of the darker imagery of the poem stick in the mind of the reader. I think its plausible that Sassoon was jaded by the seemingly callous nature of the establishment that had allowed such a war to go on and wanted to remind them that the men who suffered were not just soldiers but men “Dreamers” who shouldn’t have suffered the way they did. He wrote the letter “Finished with War: A Soldier’s Declaration” which was read in parliament and forwarded to the press demonstrating his desire to make an antiwar stance.

The meaning of the poem is an antiwar one. It’s purpose to me is to remind the reader that the soldiers were individuals and not a faceless part of a nation at war. We are given a firsthand look at the terrible conditions that men endured and their dreams of returning to a normal life. Its notable that everyday life is considered a dream, one that wouldn’t be achieved by the millions of men who died in combat.

I believe Dreamers overall message to be that soldiers are men with dreams and not a means to an end.