Siegfried Sassoon, "The Effect"

The Effect

'The effect of our bombardment was terrific.
One man told me he had never seen so many dead before.'
--War Correspondent.


'He'd never seen so many dead before.'
They sprawled in yellow daylight while he swore
And gasped and lugged his everlasting load
Of bombs along what once had been a road.
'How peaceful are the dead.'
Who put that silly gag in some one’s head?

'He'd never seen so many dead before.'
The lilting words danced up and down his brain,
While corpses