Name:
Explore the ways in which Jessie pope persuades young men to go
to war.
Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played,
The red crashing game of a fight?
Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?
And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?
Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’?
Who’ll give his country a hand?
Who wants a turn to himself in the show?
And who wants a seat in the stand?
Who knows it won’t be a picnic – not muchYet eagerly shoulders a gun?
Who would much rather come back with a crutch
Than lie low and be out of the fun?
Come along, lads –
But you’ll come on all right –
For there’s only one course to pursue,
Your country is up to her neck in a fight,
And she’s looking and calling for you.
Name:
What do you think the examiner would want to see?
Point: One way Pope persuades young men to go to war is by making them think that war is easy and fun Evidence: “Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?” (You need to think of 2 devices (3 if time!) to analyse… Language Feature: “Grip and tackle” is a metaphor for war. Analyse: It makes you think that war is like rugby. This suggests…which could also suggest …Furthermore…In addition… Evidence: “the job” is also a metaphor. Analyse: This makes men think that being a soldier is a job. A job is some-­‐
thing you do and come home from, also you normally come home at 5…also this suggests that…Furthermore…In addition… Language Feature: The language used is simple in this quote. Although “grip” uses a plosive at the end it’s not really that dramatic, and certainly soldiers would need to do more than just grip the enemy if they wanted to win. Writer’s Attitude: Jessie Pope did this because…I think she was successful because…but it also tells me that… Link back to the Question This is how she did it. Comment on whether she was right. Name:
Name:
Jessie Pope’s success in persuading men to go to war is dependent upon the country’s general ignorance of what modern war was actually like. In many ways Jessie Pope was the perfect propaganda
poet: she never woke bloodied in the mud at Ypres, nor heard a howitzer, and certainly not a barrage
that lasted all night.
The poem itself is simple. This simplicity is a measure of her ability as a poet, but it is much more like a
limerick, than a poem. The structure: 4 line verses, employing no more than 9 syllables, the rhyme
scheme is simple, drum like, repetitive, there are no mysteries here. It is just as likely Pope’s gift of poetry did not extend beyond simple rhyming couplets, but if simple rhymes were intended to attract the
simple minded, less educated, than it certainly defames her character further. It is interesting how in
this instance so few are forgiving of Pope, so few are prepared to make allowances for her ignorance.
The Mode of address, used throughout is coloquial, certainly the interrogative “Whose” is more commonplace on playing fields, or even playgrounds. it is appealing to the kid, or the boy even. And there is
an expectant nature to the question. The question is rhetorical, “whose” is used to be
sure of a positive response. If the poet used, “would you?” or “do you want” there would be too much
choice. The poet makes it quite plain that there is no choice, “there is only one course to pursue.” The
word is face threatening, monosyllabic, and as a result brief, direct, almost accusatory. The game metaphor crucially doesn’t mention life or death, but rather she uses the superlative “biggest”, hinting only
at the magnitude of the thing itself, but this is not dwelled on. Jessie Pope’s intention is to not dwell on
the content of war, but rather her singular ambition, to encourage men to go to war. And men going to
war is her expectation. She does not see the individual, she does not see the horror, perhaps only her
position being jeopardised.
Throughout the poem, the game metaphor is extended. Verbs such as ‘played’, ‘grip’ ‘tackle’ are employed, and it is easy to imagine a fairly brutal game of rugby, but what I find interesting is the writer’s
frame of reference herself; rugby must be her only real experience of brutality, and as such it places her
certainly in the privileged classes; rugby was never a game for the larger population, but reserved for
the upper classes, and this is now suggestive of a greater malaise, Jessie Pope is unaware of the
common man, she is unaware of the likes and dislikes of men. This poem is steeped in class, in attempting to appeal to all men, she reveals her narrow perspective, and a country at odds with itself. She
appeals only to the kind of man she has known; he must want to play sports, and save helpless women:
he must be chivalrous. Here Pope reveals something desperately sad about her own experience, and of
her absolute ignorance of the nature of war, and the reasons why men really fight. Not for a cause, but
for each other. I should imagine she was blissfully unaware of a great many things, not least feminism,
or the vote, or morality, or experience, or perspective or justice.
“Your country is up to her neck in a fight” certainly forms part of the most guilt-inducing sentiments. The
use of personal pronoun “your”, is again a direct mode of address: there is no escape. The lexis choice
throughout is simple, often monosyllabic, and symbolic of an easier and more playful situation, but here
in this line, the personification is as close to truth as Jessie gets- the country was up to is neck, and
that is for sure, There is a spitefulness in the language, inducing guilt reflects something sinister about
Pope herself, and she does this not deftly, but assuredly: the harsh consonant sound at the end of
‘neck’, is sharp, blunt, and there is almost desperation in it. This metaphor “up to her neck” is suggestive of a situation almost beyond repair, the country is drowning, suffocating. Pope appeals to a proportion of the population that she does not know, and pleads to them to be chivalrous. This is a cry for
help from Jessie. Being that traditional media was the only regular source of information, a writer such
as Pope, would be the voice of the country. Here she is pleading, she is weak, and needs to be saved.
But the only thing Jessie Pope was ever at risk losing was her social status, and never her life.