17. Suicide in the Trenches. Sassoon, Siegfried. 1918. Counter-Attack and Other Poems

Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967). Counter-Attack and Other Poems. 1918.

17. Suicide in the Trenches

I KNEW a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,	5
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again. . . . .
You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,	10
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.