In the second stanza of “Joining the Colours”, the happiness and excitedness of the men is contrasted with the dull surroundings, which is done through the personification of “street” - ‘The drab street stares to see them row on row, on the high street tram-tops, singing like the lark” – as if the street knows of their impending doom. The image of the soldiers being “row on row” here suggests the soldier’s unity and togetherness, yet also holds connotations of graves – the voice of the poem, aware of the soldiers’ likely fate, contrasts their happy projections of the war to the harsh reality. This is continued when it says “Too careless-gay for courage, singing they go, into the dark.” The happiness exudes from the men, rather than their surroundings – there is no crowd cheering them on or flag waving, for example. The compound adjective of “careless-gay” here emphasises the soldiers’ sense of oblivion, while the short line of “into the dark” at the end, undercuts the soldiers’ happiness and then provides the reader with imagery of death, tragedy and destruction, pointing out that they are journeying into a place from which there is no return. The fact that the poem’s speaker and even the “drab street” is so aware of the soldiers’ fates, while the soldiers remain entirely oblivious, makes an unsettling and eerie sort of atmosphere.
A similar kind of eerie atmosphere is built up in “The Send-Off” within the next few stanzas. The second stanza begins “Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray, as men’s are, dead” suggesting that the flowers they wear on their tunics resemble those of a funeral, which reminds the reader that these men are as good as dead. The way it says “Their breasts” here, creates an almost exposing image in the reader’s mind, which shows the vulnerability of the men. The caesura created by the comma before “dead”, also adds extra impact. The mention of death here is similar to the way in which the fates of the soldiers are constantly referred to, to the reader in “Joining the Colours”. The third stanza of “The Send-Off” continues the poem with a still image as “Dull porters watched them, and a casual tramp stoop staring hard, sorry to miss them from the upland camp”. Here, the porters who see them leave seem “dull” in comparison with the soldiers – linking in with how the street and surroundings of the soldiers in “Joining the Colours” is “drab” in contrast to the soldier’s gaiety. The reader gets the sense that the “casual tramp” and “porters” are accustomed to witnessing scenes like these and are almost aware of what they are going in for, again, creating a certain eeriness and sinisterness. This is emphasised with the following personification in the fourth stanza – “Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp winked to the guard.” This suggests a sense of silent collusion against the soldiers, as if secrets are being kept from the soldiers - particularly when the “signal” and the “lamp” at the station are given conspiratorial human traits of “nodding” and “winking”. The description of these movements signifies a sort of silent agreement, which is continued in the beginning of the next verse, where the men are seen to leave in secret - “So secretly, like wrongs hushed-up, they went”. The aural and onomatopoeic quality of “so secretly” gives off an idea as though the soldiers are being smuggled and as though there is some sort of shame attached to their departure. This particularly contributes to the creation of an eerie, uncomfortable atmosphere within the poem, similar to the one built up in “Joining the Colours”.
The third verse of “Joining the Colours” emphasises the youth of the soldiers leaving; they “pipe the way to glory and the grave”, with “tin whistles, mouth-organs, any noise” – their cheerful cacophony is halted by the “grave image”, which again reinforces their deathly fates in the reader’s mind. Their use of childish instruments - like “tin whistles” and “mouth organs” – to make their departure more celebratory, even though they are going to their deaths, emphasises their vulnerability. There is almost a mocking quality towards them and their completely naïve perception of the situation; the voice of the poem describes them as “foolish and young” which almost suggests an anger towards their light-heartedness, while they are recklessly throwing away their lives without a care.
Contrasting, in the “Send-Off” the sense of anger and frustration is more directed at those that are left behind (not in war) and the way they do not particularly care about the men. The poem says “They were not ours: We never heard to which front these were sent”, as if the men were distanced, disowned and anonymous. It is more impersonal as there is nobody familiar to see them off and appreciate them; their anonymity and unnoticed departure links back to the uncaring attitude of those at home. Unlike in “Joining the Colours”, the soldiers send-off seems more passive – they are not happy and excited in choosing to go to war, but instead, they are “hushed up”, sent off with less of a choice while desperately trying to remain positive.
As well as a sense of anger, the poems also address the tragedy that surrounds the situation. In “Joining the Colours” the speaker is woeful in stressing this tragedy; it is emphasised how “love cannot save” them, showing the true extent of it. The poem then continues with “High heart! High courage!”, which adds to this woeful tone and increasing sense of tragedy, despite praising the bravery of these men at the same time. The poem then sympathises with the “poor girls they kissed” whom the soldiers will leave behind, by explaining how they “shall kiss no more” and exclaiming “alas!” suggesting a lament. This contrasts to “The Send-Off” as the soldiers’ send off is not unnoticed and anonymous in the same way - they have loved ones instead (wives, girlfriends, mothers, sisters) that say farewell. The enjambered lines of the final stanza in “Joining the Colours” further increase the pace and add to this pitiful tone up until the poem finally comes to an end with “Out of the mist they stepped – into the mist, singing they pass” (the mist suggesting a lack of clarity and ambiguity to the soldiers’ lives). The last line “Singing they pass”, also used as a euphemism for death, leaves the reader with another dark, tragic, unsettling image - fully aware of what may happen to the soldiers once they have departed.
In a similar way, “The Send-Off” addresses the tragedy of the situation towards the end of the poem. The sixth stanza goes “Nor there if they yet mock what women meant who gave them flowers”. The peculiar syntax of these lines result in a difficulty understanding them, which then forces the reader to grapple with the words and make sense of them. The complexity of the words here cleverly reflects the complexity of war itself, and shows the lack of understanding of the tragic realities of war. The ominous tone is then built up to “Shall they return to beating of great bells in wild train loads? A few, a few, too few for drums and yells”, where the voice questions whether the men will ever come back to victory. However, it is then stressed that “a few, a few, too few” men will not be enough to make their homecoming worthy of a celebration. Here the device of three emphasises the deaths and diminishing numbers of soldiers, while it holds a whaling quality to it. Instead, when the soldiers return home, it is said that their experiences will have changed them forever, making their once familiar surroundings seem strange - the speaker says how the changed men will “creep back, silent” to their homes and up only “half-known” roads. This is particularly tragic as it is stressed that the war would have changed their outlook so much - while the sense of shame around them would still exist, even after they have served for their own country.
Overall, both poems confront the ways in which soldiers are sent off to go to war; in different ways, they both address the likelihood of the soldiers facing death when they are there and the ways in which this will have an impact. Towards the end of the poems, they both begin to discuss the tragedy surrounding the war and the inevitable deaths of the soldiers that are sent off. In doing so, together, the two poems are thought provoking, poignant and moving.
