To enhance this expression, a form of an English sonnet is employed by the author. With its fourteen-line structure, iambic pentameter meter and a characteristic ending rhyme in the last couplet, a sonnet is a poetic form that is used where solemn treatment of the subject is required. The division into an octave followed by a sestet is not only purely formal, as the change in content of the two parts can be observed, as well as analogical structure (both begin with a question - lines 1 and 10). While in the octave specific images from the war are used to convey the nature of death on the front, the sestet emphasises the necessity of proper burial.
Several features are mentioned that define a proper burial: flowers, pall, candles. All of them, however, are substituted with things that are realistically obtainable. And so tears (holy glimmers of good-byes that shine in the boys' eyes in line 11) replace candles; flowers are substituted with tenderness of patient minds (line 13), the coffin pall is the pallor of girls' brows (line 12). Nonetheless, the speaker seems to be saying that nobody cares for the soldiers dying on the front; nobody prays for them. Even hasty orisons (line 4) are said not by human beings but by soldier's rifles. The only music heard is calling of the bugles and a sound of shells – compared to demented choirs (line 7).
The problems addressed in the poem, together with a setting in place and time (front during the war) contribute to the atmosphere it creates, which is an atmosphere of sadness, melancholy, and reflection. Long, ten-syllable lines and long sentences add to the overall atmosphere and emphasise the serious and solemn tone of the poem, as does the diction. Word choice is varied and includes vocabulary from different language fields including army-specific vocabulary of the war (guns, rifles, shells) and death-related words (pall, mourning, orisons). In the poem, alongside concrete, straightforward language, metaphoric, literal images can be observed, as well as use of symbolic meanings of words. Metaphors are often associated with sounds, and especially in the first octave , where stuttering rifles' rapid rattle (line 3) and choirs of wailing shells (line 7) can be heard, are a base for original auditory images. In line 3 also, there is both alliteration (rifles' rapid rattle) and personification of rifles (which can patter orisons). Other instance of personification is sad shires (line 8) and they all are meant to emphasise that certain things are beyond human control and are just meant to happen, which is a reference to the title.
The meter (iambic pentameter) and alternating rhymes in the first 12 lines make the poem pleasant to the ear and unify the work, which aids the communication of the important message that it carries. Aural imagery includes the discussed alliteration but also a repetition of sound t in lines 3 and 4 that is aimed at reinforcing the auditory image of the firing guns and rifles. The ending rhyme in the last couplet (lines 13 and 14) gives the ending a sense of finality.
The poem provides the reader with a different approach to the subject of death and war. The author's reflection effectively provokes the reader to think and contemplate the problem independently. The style of the poem is well-matched to its content; it creates the atmosphere appropriate for the topic. Skillful use of auditory images and proper, solemn diction makes the poem an anthem that it is supposed to be.
