Abstract
Siegfried Sassoon did not thrive on inner conflicts, neither as a man nor as a poet. The years immediately following the Great War were among the bleakest in his life. His war poetry had made him a minor celebrity, but in 1919 he began to regard this reputation as a burden: he felt, rightly or wrongly, that expectations were high and this put him under considerable pressure. But more important were the inner conflicts: the conviction that he was a poet, the realization that he had neither a poetic voice nor a subject to write about, the desire to win praise and recognition, and the fear that he would fail and disappoint his readers, left him in a state of apathy. A combination of anger and compassion had been the driving force in his war poetry, but with this force gone, Sassoon relapsed into his pre-war indolence and diffidence.
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© 1997 Paul Moeyes
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Moeyes, P. (1997). Satirical Intent. In: Siegfried Sassoon Scorched Glory. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230374560_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230374560_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39412-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37456-0
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