There are several figures of speech the first two
stanzas.
Helmet and rifle, pack and
overcoat
Marched through a forest. Somewhere up ahead
Guns thudded.
Like the circle of a throat
The night on every side was turning
red.
The first is the
personification of helmet, rifle, pack and overcoat
marching. This takes away the identity of the soldiers and creates
an image that rather than men, they are simply equipment for killing and protection.
The second is the simile "like the circle of a throat" the
night is lighting up red (presumably with bombs). In this case I think the image of the
throat is to signify choking. It is as if the night and bombs are closing in on these
marching soldiers and their lives will be choked
away.
They
halted and they dug. They sank like moles
into the clammy earth between the
trees.
And soon the sentries, standing in their holes,
Felt the
first snow. Their feet began to
freeze.
The final figure of
speech is the simile "sank like moles." Moles burrow into
the ground for protection. Moles are also blind. This image suggests the trenches
built in WW1 for protection left the men inside them blind to whatever was going on
outside them.
These figures of speech reinforce the
mood of fear and helplessness presented in the rest of the
poem. There is a pervasive tone of impending death (as in most WW1 literature). The
men in the poem (as the real soldiers, historically) do not think nor feel like men at
all. Instead, they are robots and machines, working simply to survive or to await
inevitable death.
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