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This poem is about the out break of the First World War (hence the Roman numerals of 1914). The initial stanza describes how ordinary men eagerly sign up to join the armed forces in July 1914 with no little thought about how the war would eventually turn out.

Stanza 1

The first stanza describes how long queues of men wait to enroll in the armed forces at the outbreak of war. There is a light hearted feel among the men because they do not know how the war is going to turn out in the end. They are described similarly to sports fans waiting for a cricket or Football match. They view their enrollment as a happy time and they believe it will be fun.

Stanza 2

The next stanza evokes an old fashioned England hardly prepared for the drastic changes that are to follow with the outbreak of the war. Everything described portrays an old fashioned but has a recognisable feel to it. For example The 'Established names' which would have been businesses that had been running for a long time would have probably been closed down if the owner had volunteered.


Stanza 3

Stanza three also highlights the drastic changes that took place across the country. All classes in society would have been affected in some way. For example it says in the poem that a wealthy person is using differently dressed servants, this would be because most of the servants would be serving in the war so he had to improvise. Furthermore "the dust behind limousines" shows how fuel had to be rationed for the war effort so even the rich and powerful had to make sacrifices.


Stanza 4

The war is also symbolic of the end of innocence of the soldiers. At the beginning of the poem, the men who join up were jovial and ready to fight with no realization for what was coming.