Poem Interpretation

1. The main character is excited to go to war, but later finds out, war is cruel.  The main character is a young boy who joins the army.
2. The structure of the poem is in lines of pairs called couplets.
3. War is nothing but hatred
4. The first of each pair of lines will begin with "They said," and the second are his responses.
5. The images are descriptive. You can just see the emotional shift of the main character as the poem goes on.
6. Phil George, the author, repeats "they said", which the men tell the main character of what to do. He also has responses from the main character in each pair. For example They said, "You are no longer a lad."
I nodded.
7. The tone of the poem is tragic. A young boy is a victim to a war.
8. The author uses imagery and uses a lot of repition.
9. The structure of the poem helps the author convey his message by seperating each line into couplets with repeating words, "they said" and having an emotional change as the poem goes on.