The poem “When You See Million of the Mouthless Dead” by Charles Sorley has made the biggest impression on me because it shows a very different approach towards how world war 1 affected them compared to the other readings. Instead of mourning all the dead it does the exact opposite, he refuses to pity them.
Give them not praise. For, deaf how should they know
Nor tears. Their blind eyes see not your tears flow.When You See Million of the Mouthless Dead, Line 5-6.
In this extract of the poem he refers to the dead as blind and death, empathizing how they had a total disconnection from life while showing no grief towards them, making him sound completely emotionless. This imagery shows the harsh reality of war, creates an impression that there were so many dead that it got to the point it was normal to them. It suggest that after witnessing so many deaths, they were so traumatized they where unable to feel anything at all anymore. Through this, Sorley highlights the phycological impact of war in the soldiers that still lived, dehumanising them completely. This poem leaves the impression that there were so many dead that you couldn’t mourn them all. Cause if you did you would never finish mourning, presenting war as not only something to mourn but instead something that was highly emotionally exhausting .