World War I: the Soldier's Experience

Does it Matter?

By: Siegfried Sassoon

Does it matter?—losing your legs?...
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.

Does it matter?—losing your sight?...
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.

Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?...
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.


In the above poem by soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon, Sassoon touches on many problems that plagued the soldiers upon their return home. His question of “does it matter” echoed throughout the poem is his way of asking whether fighting in the war was justification for suffering these tragedies. Although Sassoon, a known opponent of the war, does not answer the question, his previous writings and anti-war declaration explain his belief that the war was an unnecessary massacre of lives.

The first stanza discusses the inability for soldiers to fit into society following their return from war. In a more apparent sense, the injured soldiers are physically unable to take part in society. In a more subtle way, the soldiers are emotionally unable to find a place in society because their past four years contain horrific experiences that are unfathomable for those back at home.

In the final stanza, Sassoon discusses society’s response to the soldiers’ long-term problems. The soldiers have these horrible memories, yet society shrugs off their emotional problems. The line “people won’t say that you’re mad” is Sassoon’s attempt to explain society’s opinion that soldiers' emotional issues is not something to be worried about, simply a part of fighting for your country. If the soldiers repress the memories, they will heal on their own with time and alcohol.

Through this poem, Sassoon is demonstrating the ignorance of the British and their inability to help the soldiers. Many soldiers suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their experiences on the fighting front; however, very few back at home recognized this as an illness. Dr. William Rivers was one of the first to treat the symptoms of this disorder, but other doctors saw emotional problems as curable with physical treatment. Dr. Yealland, for example, treated soldiers with shock therapy for problems such as paralysis. Yealland and many others provided a cure for only the top layer of the soldiers’ illnesses, ignoring the underlying problem. The war doctors and the other British on the home front did not personally experience the horrors of war and were therefore unable to provide the soldiers with long-term relief. As explained by the soldiers at the Imperial War Museum, the nightmare of war stayed with them for decades.