Who's For The Game By Jesse Pope Summary

In the poem ‘Who’s for the Game?’, written by Jesse Pope during World War I, a number of effective techniques are used to convey the important messages. The techniques used in this poem include metaphors and personification. These techniques help readers understand an important message by conveying the main idea of joining the war. This was shown by especially telling young, naive men that it would be an enjoyable experience and that they would be considered cowardly if they did not go. These techniques also provide a false depiction of war as written by Jesse Pope, a pro-war enthusiast journalist with no experience of war who published her jingoistic and propagandistic works to the public.

One of the first effective techniques used were metaphors. In the first line of the poem, Pope compares war to a “game” and then later on as a “picnic”. The reference to these words give readers the positive idea that war would be a fun, carefree and lighthearted experience. This leads young men into misjudging war conditions as the writer has compared it to a relaxed game of Rugby or social event. Rugby was a sport that was often played for enjoyment by youthful men. The author uses this technique to enable an understandable connection with war and Rugby to young men for them to

This is shown in the metaphor used to compare war to a “game” as it strongly suggests the poet’s message of war being fun and carefree. This metaphor is also important to the main message as it is used to persuade and encourage men that seeked adventure and glory. This was due to the lack of soldiers England had in the war by 1916, resulting in the call for volunteer soldiers. Due to the media, social pressure and shame men would receive from their community about their cowardliness and lack of masculinity, a vast majority of unknowing men volunteered for