Wirers

The poem, which consists of three stanzas of uneven length, is short and direct. It realistically recreates the atmosphere of trench warfare in World War I and the extremely dangerous nighttime expedition of the British wiring party. The first line, which quotes the words of a British sentry, succinctly states what is happening. A wiring party is going out to repair the barbed wire in no-man’s-land. The sentries pass the message along so everyone is informed, and no one mistakes the movement for enemy action. No-man’s-land was a narrow and desolate strip of land. Varying in length from several hundred yards to as little as ten yards, it stood between the trenches of the opposing armies; in this case, between the British and the Germans. In addition to the barbed wire, no-man’s-land might contain craters and land mines, as well as dead and wounded soldiers, some of whom were trapped on the wire.

Line 3 emphasizes the hard physical labor involved as the barbed wire is repaired, as well as the posts holding it up. The aim is to repair the wire so it slows or prevents the next German attack on the British lines, since well-maintained barbed wire could be virtually impassable.