The Deserter- Gilbert Frankau

Form:

· Three quatrains of irregular metre; nevertheless the poem moves at a fast pace.

· The second and forth lines of each stanza rhyme.

· Individual lines have mechanical rhythms, such as: ‘The bolt-heads locked to the cartridge’ perhaps showing the mechanical nature of soldiers that had been removed of emotion and now simply carried out orders.

Language:

· ‘shameless soul of a nameless man´ perhaps shows how the poet had admiration for this man who had the courage to stand up against the horrors of war.

· The only word with any emotion/ energy/ zest is ‘Fire!’ and this is a death command, perhaps suggesting that soldiers had been degraded to a point where all they now knew was death.

Tone:

Tone is almost cold as the poet appears to cynically mock the idea of heroic war stories.