TOUCHSTONES 1 ‘Base Details’ by Siegfried Sassoon
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If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath I’d live with scarlet Majors at the Base, And speed glum heroes up the line to death. You’d see me with my puffy petulant face, Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel, Reading the Roll of Honour. ‘Poor young chap,’ I’d say – ‘I used to know his father well; Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.’ And when the war is done and youth stone dead, I’d toddle safely home and die – in bed.
READING
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1 Who is the speaker in this poem?
2 List the adjectives used to describe the Majors and the ordinary soldiers. How do you think the poet feels about the Majors? And how does he feel about the soldiers? 3 List the uses of alliteration in the poem. Read them again out loud. What emotion, do you think, is the poet trying to get across to the reader through these uses of alliteration?
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ACTIVITY
4 Complete the quote quest task in your activity book (see page 62) and answer the questions that follow.
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5 Why did the poet choose the word ‘petulant’ to describe the Major? 6 How does the poet want the reader to feel by the end of the poem?
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7 Speech marks are used within the poem to indicate when the Majors are speaking.
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…‘Poor young chap,’ I’d say – ‘I used to know his father well; Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.’
Why do you think the poet chose to do this? Is it an effective use of punctuation?
8 Does this poem link with any film, TV show or computer game you have seen? 9 Create a set of poetry notes on this poem in your activity book (see page 64).
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