I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.
Meaning of the quote
This poet is saying that he is going against the military on purpose because he thinks the people in charge are keeping the war going even though they could end it. He believes they are doing this on purpose, even though they have the power to stop the fighting.
About Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon was an English war poet who served on the Western Front during World War I. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and criticized the patriotic justifications for the war. Sassoon became a prominent dissenter within the armed forces and later gained acclaim for his autobiographical prose work.
More quotes from Siegfried Sassoon
I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
Man, it seemed, had been created to jab the life out of Germans.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
Soldiers are citizens of death’s grey land, drawing no dividend from time’s tomorrows.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
In me the tiger sniffs the rose.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)
Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives.
English war poet and writer (1886-1967)