“Attack” Summary

“Attack” Themes

• 

  The Horrors of War

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.
• 

  Nature and Warfare

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Attack”

• Lines 1-4

  At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun
  In the wild purple of the glow'ring sun,
  Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud
  The menacing scarred slope;

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 4-6

  and, one by one,
  Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire.
  The barrage roars and lifts.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 6-8

  Then, clumsily bowed
  With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear,
  Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 9-11

  Lines of grey, muttering faces, masked with fear,
  They leave their trenches, going over the top,
  While time ticks blank and busy on their wrists,

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 12-13

  And hope, with furtive eyes and grappling fists,
  Flounders in mud. O Jesus, make it stop!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“Attack” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Personification

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Polysyndeton

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“Attack” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• The Ridge
• Massed
• Dun
• Glow'ring
• Smouldering
• Spouts
• Shroud
• The Wire
• Barrage
• Jostle
• Bristling
• Furtive
• Grappling
• Flounder

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Attack”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Attack” Speaker

“Attack” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Attack”

More “Attack” Resources

• External Resources

  • Sassoon's Correspondence — A letter from Sassoon to his uncle, shortly after Sassoon was wounded in battle.

  • Sassoon's Life and Work — A BBC Radio documentary about Siegfried Sassoon and his poetry. 

  • More Poems From WWI — A valuable resource from the Poetry Foundation focusing on First World War poetry.

  • A Reading of the Poem — Sassoon's poem read brilliantly by actor Gemma Arteton. 

  • Another Reading, This Time by Helen Mirren! — This excellent reading is by actor Dame Helen Mirren.

  • Bringing WWI to Life — In this clip, director Peter Jackson discusses his recent WWI film, They Shall Not Grow Old. Though technology, Jackson brings old war footage to vivid life, restoring a sense of the soldiers as actual people.  

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Siegfried Sassoon

  • Base Details

  • Suicide in the Trenches

  • The Death Bed

  • The Rear-Guard