The poem
Dark clouds are smouldering into red While down the craters morning burns. The dying soldier shifts his head To watch the glory that returns; He lifts his fingers toward the skies Where holy brightness breaks in flame; Radiance reflected in his eyes, And on his lips a whispered name.
You'd think, to hear some people talk, That lads go West with sobs and curses, And sullen faces white as chalk, Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses. But they've been taught the way to do it Like Christian soldiers; not with haste And shuddering groans; but passing through it With due regard for decent taste.
I think this has a somewhat sarcastic mood. The author is clearly apalled by the war and wants to make a statement.
place and date
i was curious to know where and when sigfrid wrote this poem, if he wrote it in the trenches then he exposes horrificness of the war. if he wrote it at home then he shows reflection upon his experience.
response to rob
It was written when Sassoon was in the mental institute in Scotland when he met Wilfred Owen during the First World War.