Lines 1-3

The word ‘seemed’ in the first stanza lends an air of uncertainty about the speaker’s situation.
Through the mention of battle, we can assume that the speaker is a soldier describing his
descent through a deep dark tunnel into a subterranean nightmarish landscape. The use of the
word ‘escape’ clearly shows the contrast to any glorification of war. The absence of the
mention of which war also suggests the universality of the destruction of war. This idea is
further reinforced through the mention of ‘titanic wars’ which can be a reference to wars
throughout history and the resulting devastation, the ‘hell’ they have created or mined
‘groined’.

Lines 4-10
Though it is a completely different environment removed from the battlefield, the speaker can
see people all around having difficulty sleeping. They might seem encumbered because they
carry with them the burden of suffering caused by the war. All around him he notices men
who have either died already or lost their minds to an extent that they cannot be helped.
While the speaker walks around trying to rouse any of them, one person jumps up and looks
at the speaker as though he recognises him. The person is described to have an expression full
of pity and wears a lifeless smile on his face. Through this the speaker finally realises that he
is in hell.
Lines 11-14
The person’s face is etched with the fears and horrors of war even though the place is
nowhere close to the battlefield the sounds of artillery or the sounds of soldiers dying on the
battlefield do not reach this hell. The result of war is such that even in the after-life the
anxieties of war haven’t left him. In fact his reference is also dehumanised as he is described
as a ghostly vision. Hence war is depicted as a thoroughly devastating force that permanently
damages the psyche of the individuals involved.
Line 14: The speaker begins the conversation with the paradox of ‘Strange friend’ and
attempts to ease the fears evident on the person’s face by consoling him and there is no cause
to mourn anymore.
Line 15 to 25: The reply to the speaker’s words is a monologue that describes the effects of
war as horrifying and wasteful. The hopelessness of the undone years is the biggest cause to
mourn now. The person speaks about a shared identity and purpose by establishing that the
hopes and aspirations of the two men were the same -Their common quest for beauty and
truth that is unaffected by time and eternal. This can be a reference to the desire of youth for
eternal glory and adventure. It can also be inferred as the quest to understand the essence of
life. This reinforces the idea of the ‘years lost’ the immense capacity of human life rendered
worthless by the ghastliness of war. Life consists of sadness along with moments of joy and
victory. But even the grief experienced in a life uninterrupted by war is richer and more
meaningful that the meaningless disaster of war. His happiness in life would have been
shared by many instead of the animosity that he now sees around him. However with the
soldier’s death in the war, another loss is that his untold truth about the reality of war will
also die. The truth that he wished to share with humanity is the pity war distilled. It is called
distilled because it is the purest form of pity, the very essence distilled by the horror of war.
No other phenomenon is destructive enough that it is capable of producing such pity. This
line truly captures the enormity of the consequences of war.
Line 26-29: Since this truth has died with him, he sees a disastrous future for humankind.
Future generations might be happy with the destruction caused or in a worse outcome be
discontent about it and become even more aggressive and destructive resulting in an endless
vicious circle. In such a catastrophic scenario the soldier does not see any possibility that
humanity will rebel against violence eventually causing society to move further away from
progress.
Line 30 – 39
The soldier continues his reflection on the possibilities of his life despite having the courage,
wisdom and expertise he could not avoid the ruthless march into cities causing devastation.
He imagines his service for humanity when this hopeless retreat can go no further he would
cleanse their sins with the waters from sweet wells and reveal again the truth mentioned
earlier – the truth of war, a truth that is permanent and untainted. For achieving this objective
the soldier says he would even have poured his spirit without limit and done everything
except engage in war. He continues to speak about the effects of war by bringing out the
psychological trauma and consequences that go beyond the physical damages and injuries.
The last stanza reveals that this strange meeting was between two dead soldiers who had
fought on opposing sides. A shared awareness of the futility of war and a sense of
companionship is seen when they are no longer on opposite sides of the war. They are able to
see beyond the hatred of war and reconcile.