There seems to be a melancholy mood in the second and third stanzas as the man relives memories of a lively town, “when glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees, and girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim”. The poet states that this was “In the old times, before he threw away his knees”, making it seem as if the man is very old now, while also highlighting the fact that the war was a waste of his knees. It is then revealed that it has only been a year since his transformation from a young man to an old one, “For it was younger than his youth, last year. Now he is old”. The war has clearly stripped him of his youth, made him pass by “half his lifetime”. He had poured his colour, his vitality, “down shell-holes till the veins ran dry”. Because of the war, he will never be able to have a relationship with a girl, for “all of them touch him like some queer disease.”
The fourth stanza is the longest stanza in the poem, and unlike the others, it has a rhyming pattern of ABABCACADCDCEDED. This stanza is the memory of the man’s past life before the war, a life with structure and big hopes, hence the length and pattern. Ironically the man used to be proud of his injuries, and “liked a bloodsmear down his leg”. He was just like any other young man of that time, ignorant of the true horror of the war, and signed up to please his “giddy” girlfriend, while dreaming of “jeweled hilts”, “daggers”, and “smart salutes”. In this verse Owen uses him to represent the many other young soldiers who were influenced by the propaganda that glorified war, and blames the officials for drafting the soldiers despite knowing they are underage, “Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years”.
In contrast, the fifth stanza is the shortest stanza, symbolizing the little return he received despite sacrificing his legs for the war. The celebration for his return could not even compare to when he got a goal in football, and “only a solemn man who brought him fruits thanked him”. The emphasis on “thanked” might even suggest that the man was insincere. The last stanza returns to his current situation, where he is completely dependant on the others, only taking “whatever pity they may dole”. His life is now completely meaningless, and women wouldn’t even spare him a glance. He only asks for someone to end his misery, and the poem ends with a hopelessly echoing cry, “Why don’t they come and put him to bed? Why don’t they come?”
On the other hand, Sassoon’s “Does it Matter?” appears to be the complete opposite. In contrast to “Disabled”, “Does it Matter?” is highly sarcastic, and it invites the reader to consider what is would be like to lose one’s legs, eyesight, or mind. For such a complex subject matter, the poem is very brief, spanning only three short stanzas with five lines each. It has an ABBCA rhyming pattern and a distinctive rhythm, like a nursery rhyme. This adds to the patronizing tone of the poem, almost as if the speaker is speaking to a child. Clearly Sassoon is mocking the ignorance and naivety of war supporters, having once stated himself that he particularly wanted to upset “blood-thirsty civilians and those who falsely glorify war”.
“Does it Matter? – losing your legs?” the poem starts with this sarcastic rhetorical question directly addressed to the reader, inviting us to consider. The tone is clearly mocking, treating the issue as if it is of no importance. The euphemistic verb “losing”, accompanied with the lack of imagery unlike in “Disabled”, emphasizes the casual and seemingly uncaring mood of the poem. The poet goes on to say, “For people will always be kind, and you need not show that you mind when the others come in after hunting to gobble their muffins and eggs.” This is no doubt again sarcastic, and “kind” is most likely the pity people have for invalids. Sassoon deliberately choose “hunting”, an activity for able-bodied men, to indirectly question the reader on how the a disabled man would feel watching others full of vitality, not much different to the situation in “Disabled” where the man listens to the boys having fun in the park.
The second stanza is in the same format as the first, but it introduces a new disability, blindness, “Does it matter? Losing your sight?” Sassoon mockingly states, “There’s such splendid work for the blind” and repeats again, “And people will always be kind”. The poem seems to take on a softer tone, “As you sit on the terrace remembering and turning your face to the light.” This shows blind people’s attempt to remember the sight, the life they once had, in contrast to the man in “Disabled” waiting for the dark to hide the sight of others’ pleasure from him.
“Do they matter? Those dreams from the pit?” This most probably refer to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the final and the most serious disability of them all. Again, Sassoon uses euphemism, “dreams” instead of nightmares, to make them sound trivial. He makes reference to people trying to use alcohol as a solution, “You can drink and forget and be glad”, adding derisively, “And people won’t say that you’re mad”. There seems to be a natural stress on “say”, hinting that people would instead think that you’re mad. The last two lines of the poem are perhaps the most significant, “For they’ll know that you’ve fought for your country and no one will worry a bit”. Here Sassoon is attacking those who glorify war, sarcastically agreeing with them that fighting for your country justifies everything, even your madness. On the other hand, the last line could mean that people would not care even though the soldiers have sacrificed themselves for their countries. This ending is similar to that of “Disabled” where the man is left out alone in the dark, waiting for someone to come and put him to bed. Hence both poems conclude that in the end, the sacrifices and resulting disabilities of the soldiers were all for nothing.
It is with such differing styles that Owen and Sassoon portray their ideas of soldiers’ disabilities in their poems “Disabled” and “Does It Matter?” respectively. While “Disabled” is long, with no set structure to represent the scattered life of the disabled man, “Does It Matter?” is short, with distinctive rhyme and rhythm similar to a nursery rhyme to attain the voice of someone patronizing a child. Be it through Owen’s sorrow and reflections, or Sassoon’s sarcasm and questioning attacks, both poets’ sympathy for victimized soldiers and anger for the ones glorifying the war are evident; the two poems act as reinforcements for each other, ensuring that their message is delivered, and understood, by all.
