Chapter 11: Nearly four o'clock
At the beginning of this chapter, we learn that ever more men are needed to fight the war.
Read the following poem and answer the questions below. (You may need to use the internet to research some of the questions)
Recruitment
Lads, you're wanted,
Go and help.
On the railway carriage wall
Stuck the poster
and I thought of the hands
that penned the call.
Fat civilians wishing they
Could go and fight the Hun;
Can't you see them
Thanking God they're over forty one.
Girls with feathers, vulgar songs,
Washy verse on England's need
God and don't we damn-well know
How the message ought to read.
Lads, you're wanted, over there
Shiver in the morning dew
More poor devils, like yourselves
Waiting to be killed by you.
E.A. MacKintosh
a) Who wrote the recruitment posters? Use two words from the poem, and then translate these into your own explanation.
b) What is the relevance of "girls with feathers"? (Tip: look up "white feathers world war one" on the internet)
c) What does the last stanza of the poem mean?
Read the following poem and answer the questions below. (You may need to use the internet to research some of the questions)
Recruitment
Lads, you're wanted,
Go and help.
On the railway carriage wall
Stuck the poster
and I thought of the hands
that penned the call.
Fat civilians wishing they
Could go and fight the Hun;
Can't you see them
Thanking God they're over forty one.
Girls with feathers, vulgar songs,
Washy verse on England's need
God and don't we damn-well know
How the message ought to read.
Lads, you're wanted, over there
Shiver in the morning dew
More poor devils, like yourselves
Waiting to be killed by you.
E.A. MacKintosh
a) Who wrote the recruitment posters? Use two words from the poem, and then translate these into your own explanation.
b) What is the relevance of "girls with feathers"? (Tip: look up "white feathers world war one" on the internet)
c) What does the last stanza of the poem mean?