Two Fusiliers Analysis

Two Fusiliers - Robert Graves

AND have we done with War at last?

Well, we’ve been lucky devils both,

And there’s no need of pledge or oath

To bind our lovely friendship fast,

By firmer stuff

Close bound enough.

By wire and wood and stake we’re bound,

By Fricourt and by Festubert,

By whipping rain, by the sun’s glare,

By all the misery and loud sound,

By a Spring day,

By Picard clay.

Show me the two so closely bound

As we, by the red bond of blood,

By friendship, blossoming from mud,

By Death: we faced him, and we found

Beauty in Death,

In dead men breath The first stanza states the strength of their friendship. The second stanza states the events that shaped their friendship/ comradeship. The third stanza challenges Sassoon to find a friendship stronger as theirs has been formed by death. The tone is one of optimism, suggesting that there is still hope for humanity and also rejoicing the fact that something good has come out of such horror. --> the ABBA rhyme scheme in first stanza gives this tone of optimism especially. Repetition of ‘By’ enforces the idea that it was due to a range of experiences on the front that their friendship was formed. ''By whipping rain, by the sun’s glare'' is an oxymoron, which displays that the men have experienced contrasting things together (the weather) and it shows that their friendship has carried on through the seasons. ''As we, by the red bond of blood, By friendship, blossoming from mud,'' - their friendship has strengthened from sights of blood and mud - two things which are natural and thus imply a raw and close bond.