Who's for the game? Jessie Pope

P. Jessie Pope’s poem uses a lot of rhetorical questions – the majority of the lines end with one. Q. ‘Who’ll give his country a hand?’ E. The writer uses rhetorical questions to get the reader to… As there are so many rhetorical questions we have to… In war, and in the trenches, we often have to think about the consequences. This poem tries to encourage as many people as possible to fight for ‘his country.’ (Write a personal opinion, do you think that it is right to do that?) P. The poem compares the war to a ‘game.’ Q. ‘Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played.’ E. Pope creates an extended metaphor as the comparison continues through the poem. He mentions ‘grip’ and ‘tackle’ and ‘who will toe the line’ which could be compared to Rugby. He also says ‘who wants a seat in the stand?’ This makes us think of a football stadium. (Personal opinion, is it a good metaphor? Is it good to compare war to a game?)