Revision:"Fall In" - Harold Begbie

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Fall In' by Harold Begbie is an example of Jingoistic poetry from the start of the First World War. It was written as a genuine call to arms, and would have been published in newspapers or magazines. Jingoistic poetry is highly patriotic, and would have aimed to almost scare men to enlist, by threatening them with cowardice. The ideals of bravery, comradeship and fighting to defend loved ones aided many men to cope with the war, and aided many grieving mothers to believe their sons died for a reason.

During 1914 civilians hugely believed that going to war was a noble thing to do, and there was huge excitement and build-up towards it. The poem promotes a patriotic ideology suggesting that soldiers should give their “country a hand”, making it seem as if fighting for England is a mans duty.

Bigbie’s “Fall in” illustrates the pressure that was placed on men, as society saw going to war as the norm, and Begbie targets his poem at the non conformists and suggests through the poem that they will be rejected, humiliated and mocked. Begbie uses a series of questions, such as “where will you look Sonny” to make the readers at the time question themselves, and force themselves to explain and justify why they don’t want to go war.

Comments

These notes are aimed at A Level English students at A2 level.

Originally written by little one on TSR Forums.