Content Warning: The section features references to and descriptions of war and its effects on the human body, physical descriptions of the effects of chemical warfare, and discussions of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Owen’s speaker is a soldier in a regiment for the Allied Forces. His goal is to make sure that those on the home front, whom he directly addresses later in the poem, understand the realities of the soldier’s burden and the circumstances he faces. These are no glorified warriors in shiny uniforms, but young men “[b]ent-double, like old beggars” (Line 1) by the weight of their equipment and the ceaselessness of battle. Placing the narrative post-battle, the speaker notes how they “trudge” (Line 4) wearily toward some “distant rest” (Line 4). Some are sick and “coug[h] like hags” (Line 2) while others have “blood-shod” (Line 6) feet from having lost their boots.

Besides being ill, overburdened, and without proper footwear, which could expose them to gangrene, they are fatigued to the point they “marc[h] asleep” (Line 5). This makes them vulnerable as they are desensitized to their surroundings due to their growing somnambulance. The men are described as “lame” (Line 6), “blind” (Line 6), and “deaf” (Line 7) as they can no longer pay attention to the warnings of enemy fire.