Glory of Women is a celebration of the efforts made by women in times of struggle. Although the men faced the brunt of the warfare, the women were left to face its cost. They were left to work the jobs left behind, as well as making many of the weapons of the war.
"You love us when we're heroes, home on leave,
Or wounded in a memorable place." (1099)
Although many men never come back from wars, their women are often the ones who are their for help and support long after the war ends. Although we are in a different period now, nurses now serve on the frontline to help our wounded. Without this love and support many of these men would not make it through these times. These women often go unrecognized so it was encouraging to see this poem about these women.
"You crown our distant ardours while we fight,
And mourn our laurelled memories when we are killed." (1099)
Although glory is often found on the battlefield, this poem reminds us of those who are behind the glorious. Without these ladies to keep their stories alive, their stories would die along with their bodies. Therefore these ladies are glorious because they keep the fight on the homefront. If things were to go bad at home then many men would turn back to take care of the affairs at home.
"O German mother dreaming by the fire,
While you are knitting socks to send your son
His face is trodden deeper in the mud." (1099)
This seemed to be an odd ending for this poem for me since the majority of the poem was praising the work of the British women. It seemed to mock the work of the German woman who was doing the same things they were praising their women for.
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11 comments:
Jeremy,
The problem with irony is that, by saying the opposite of what one means, one is likely to be misunderstood. Sassoon is being ironic in this poem, and thinks that the women are not glorious but shallow cheerleaders for the war effort who only want to hear war stories that maintain their delusions. The ending is supposed to make them see that "their" soldiers don't always act like knights in shining armor, and also that the "enemy" are not monsters but humans with mothers, too.
I interpreted this work completely different.
I think Sassoon’s intent is to say that the women’s view of the war is misguided. They see the soldiers as chivalrous and the war as noble, but in reality the war is “hell’s last horror,” with “trampling the terrible corpses,” and “face is trodden deeper in the mud.” Sassoon was pointing out the irony of the war.
I agree that Sasson seems to be pointing to the irony of the war. I also think that he is trying to point out how many times we feel like the other people we are opposed to are not considered humans or lesser humans by us.
The poem was very ironic since the poem was called "Glory of Women." The poem did not glory women at all though. It criticized them for only seeing the medals and the heroism in war. They didn't realize the horrors that were going on at the same time. I enjoyed reading this poem. Even though you weren't right on in this poem, you still gave it some good thoughts and I enjoyed reading your post.
good interpretation. men do need their women to support them from home, they are often he inspiration to get them home. forget what the others said. they have no clue what they are talking about
hey emily i believe you are the one who doesnt know what you are talking about. have you read any other sassoon poems? i advise you to.
sassoon often used irony to vilify the people on the home front and his commanding officers. he thought that the war was a terrible thing and campaigned to end it,t hrowing his medals into the thames.
yes, it is true that fighting men do need there women to support them at home but this is not the point that sassoon is making!
I have to analyze and present this poem to my class, and I interpreted it differently. First of all, the poem is a sonnet, yet its not romantic and doesn't really praise women as the title says "glory of women". The sonnet form seems only to add to the irony of the poem. The poem points out the ignorance of women and the truth about war instead of praising women for their efforts and encouragement at home. It compares their beliefs, how they "worship decorations", love heroes, and how the women cannot understand how some soldiers leave the army or "retire". At the end the poet reveals what war is really like from the soldiers eyes and that it is not about what women at home make it out to be. War is death, destruction, and defeat; not heroism, adventure, or what stories/propaganda portray it to be. The last three lines are truly powerful and show the ignorance of women the best. The mother is in a peaceful setting, far from the war and making socks for her son, all the while her son is dying in the battle. She, as well as other women, really don't know the true horrors of war.
I don't mean to be rude, but your interpretation of the poem is wrong. "Glory of Women" is a bitter and ironic attack against a single portion of Sassoon's audience. He isn't praising women for supporting the men, he's blaming them for supporting the war by praising the chivalry of the soldiers.
The above interpretation is completely wrong.
Sassoon is furious with the women who know nothing of the brutal realities of battle and think war is a romantic heroic fairy tale.
Sassoon in rage accuses the women who believe the fairy tale of heroic battle:
"You make us shells."
In other words, "you silly women sitting at home knitting reduce us, the soldiers out in the mess, to nothing more than hollow men. You're in denial when you pretend that we are plastic GI Joes."
I'd encourage the person who controls this site to take the commentary of this Sassoon poem down, because it is laughably inaccurate and could mislead people.
I agree that the original interpretation of the poem is sadly misled, however, without knowing a brief history of Sassoon, this is a common undertaking of his poetry which is widely misinterpreted, Sassoon himself felt misunderstood even in his day. I do not agree, however, that the post should be removed. After all, look at the intelligent dialogue that it has encouraged!
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