Panteha Ghoroori

Analysis of “Dreamers”

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In this poem, Siegfried Sassoon describes the horrifying side of war for soldiers and what they

experience and dream of just before meeting their sorrowful death. He further continues to

create an imagery for the reader by describing their surroundings as “death’s gray land” and

mention of guns. Sassoon goes in more detail towards the end, about soldiers’ hobbies, dreams

and what they hoped for just before the guns, violence and war begun. While he creates a violent

and horrifying imagery in the first half of the poem, he creates a hopeful, happy and comforting

imagery in the second half.

This poem is a sonnet that is divided to two stanzas with each being a set of eight lines, separated

by a big space or pause in the middle. I believe Sassoon chose this format to contrast the dark

and violent imagery surrounding soldiers at war in the first stanza and the happiness of the

soldier’s dreams and memories that they reminisce on in the second stanza. There is a rhyming

scheme presented in the poem which goes like ABAB. The speaker of this poem is never made

clear throughout the poem.

We first begin to read and notice the comparison Sassoon made between “death’s gray land” and

the war zone. He refers to it as “gray land” because soldiers are in a gray zone, not knowing if
they will die or survive. He further continues to describe the mindset of soldiers and how they

are so determined and “sworn to action” and how they “must win”. This could portrait the

propaganda presented during times of war and how each soldier believes in his country, not

really seeing the opponent’s point of view. Each soldier is faced with their own “feuds, and

jealousies, and sorrows.” The poem continues, and at the last two lines of the first stanza is

when we are finally made clear of who the “dreamers” are. Sassoon gives us a third dimension to

each soldier fighting in war by calling them “dreamers” and even when “the guns begin” all they

can think of are what gives them that last piece of hope, perhaps a feeling of missing home. He

describes these as “firelit homes, clean beds, and wives”

In the second half and the final stanza, he again creates a terrorizing imagery of the aftermath of

war and the unfortunate fate for the soldiers at war by using words such as “foul dug-outs”,

“gnawed by rats” or “in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain”. In the final lines of the poem,

Sassoon takes that dark imagery out of the readers mind by describing these fallen soldier’s

dreams. Dreams of having a normal life, dreams of pursuing their hobbies which he gives an

example by the sentence “dreaming of thins they did with balls and bats”. This could also be

interoperated as the soldiers are reminiscing their childhood, when they had hope. Sassoon

further continues to describe daily routines of “bank-holidays” or “going to the office in the rain”

which are one’s mundane activities but how even the simplest routines are what these soldiers

dreamed of experiencing again.

Sassoon did an amazing job of redefining of what a soldier can be. While they all seem fearless,

determined and hopeful, in reality, they are human dreaming of a better life. Reminiscing on

their childhood, memories they had with loved ones and the comfort of their homes. Sassoon
successfully created a barrier of sympathy from the readers for these soldiers by going in detail

of their simple dreams and hopes.