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The first line shows the worthlessness of the man by addressing him as “It”. It shows how war can devalue and destroy the respect that has been reserved for man. It shows how war can change the life of any human being. It also shows how once the doctor was willing to heal the wound but when the man has died the doctor is now telling his orderly to get rid of the body. The rest of the stanza shows how the doctor sympathises for the man’s family. It also shows the value of time by saying that if the man had come sooner there might have been a “chance for his life”.
The last line shows that the doctor must be really busy with his work that he doesn’t have time to sympathise for too long, as he abruptly tells his orderly to clean the surgical knife. The poem is set into three stanzas. Each stanza has twelve lines. The rhyme scheme for the stanzas is ABABCDCDEFFF. The rhyme scheme has been added for extra effect to the poem and more emotion to the poem. I think the last three lines of the poem have the same rhyme scheme because they are the spoken words of the doctor and also because they contain deep messages within them.
The poet has used repetition within the poem. In every stanza he has the word “War”. I think he has done this so that his object and purpose for writing the poem can get across to the reader. The poem shows how slight injuries can become deathly and deadly. It shows the conditions in which the soldiers were treated or many of the times, died. The poem keeps the man unnamed to show that this kind of thing could happen to anybody and at any time. It also explores the terrifying scenes that the doctors and orderlies saw while trying to treat the injured that it became almost impossible to treat them.
I think the poem has been written in praise and sympathy for those who were either fighting or helping on the front line. I think it is an excellent way of describing those things that are not revealed to the public. It is kept hidden from the people and probably will be kept hidden until someone discloses the information. I think he poet has done an excellent job by describing these things in a poem. He has not broken the headlines, but rather he may have broken a few hearts of those who suffered during the war, or were heavily involved in the war.