Satirical Intent

Abstract

Siegfried Sassoon did not thrive on inner conflicts, neither as a man nor as a poet. The years immediately following the Great War were among the bleakest in his life. His war poetry had made him a minor celebrity, but in 1919 he began to regard this reputation as a burden: he felt, rightly or wrongly, that expectations were high and this put him under considerable pressure. But more important were the inner conflicts: the conviction that he was a poet, the realization that he had neither a poetic voice nor a subject to write about, the desire to win praise and recognition, and the fear that he would fail and disappoint his readers, left him in a state of apathy. A combination of anger and compassion had been the driving force in his war poetry, but with this force gone, Sassoon relapsed into his pre-war indolence and diffidence.