Siegfried Sassoon

Siegfried Sassoon was born in Matfield, Kent (in England) on 8th September 1886. His mother, Theresa, was Anglo-Catholic, while his father George Ezra was of Jewish origin. Siegfried Sassoon attended New Beacon School in Kent, then pursued further education at Marlborough College. Sassoon then studied law at Clare College, Cambridge University, but left without obtaining a degree. Instead, Sassoon focused on his writing, both poetry and prose, and published his first volume of poems in 1906.

World War I began in 1914, and Siegfried Sassoon joined in 1915. His younger brother was killed during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915. As a soldier, Siegfried Sassoon was well known for his acts of bravery, which were considered reckless and even, at times, suicidal, resulting in his being called 'Mad Jack'. For his courage and determination, Siegfried Sassoon was awarded the Military Cross in 1916.

Siegfried Sassoon was wounded in April 1917, and returned home to recuperate. He had time to reflect on his experiences of the War, and began to express his grievances and discontentment. In July 1917, Sassoon wrote 'Finished with the War: A Soldier's Declaration', in which he criticised military authorities as well as the government for the suffering of the soldiers on the front line. Sassoon also criticised those on the home front whom he regarded as complacent, and whom he believed could not fully understand the horrors and the agonies of war faced by soldiers.

This declaration was read out in parliament, and as a result, Siegfried Sassoon was sent for court-martial. In other words, Sassoon was to be tried for being a conscientious objector and faced possible execution. One of his friends and fellow writers, Robert Graves, managed to prevent Sassoon from this fate, however, and explained that Sassoon's protest was the result of shell-shock (known today as Post-traumatic stress disorder, or, PTSD).

After this, Siegfried Sassoon was sent to Edinburgh to be treated at Craiglockhart War Hospital, which specialised in the treatment of shell-shock along with a variety of other psychiatric conditions. At Craiglockhart, Siegfried Sassoon met and befriended fellow soldier and poet Wilfred Owen. Both poets encouraged the creativity of the other and shared ideas for poetry, but Siegfried Sassoon also acted as a mentor to Owen, who wrote what are considered today two of his most famous poems - 'Dulce et Decorum Est', and 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' whilst at Craiglockhart.

Despite his previous objections to the War, Siegfried Sassoon returned to the front in 1918. After the War ended, Sassoon returned home and continued his writing career. In 1928, Sassoon published The George Sherston Trilogy Series, a collection of three novels centred on protagonist George Sherston. The novels capture the journey of the young Sherston first joining the War, followed by the loss of his innocence, and the brutal truths and realities he endures as part of War life.

In 1933, Siegfried Sassoon fell in love with and married Hester Gatty, and together they had a son, George, born in 1936. However, the marriage ended in divorce in 1945. Siegfried Sassoon continued his writing career, writing both poetry and prose, and eventually converted to Catholicism in 1957. Siegfried Sassoon died on the 1st September 1967 from stomach cancer. He is buried in Mells, Somerset (England), in the churchyard of St Andrews Church.

In the poem 'Glory of Women', Sassoon criticises the attitudes of those at home towards the War and the soldiers fighting, in particular, their attitudes of women. He uses a sarcastic tone to mock what he considered to be misguided patriotism, and even more than that, the propaganda which led thousands of men to their deaths.