Which parts of these excerpts indicate that soldiers are completely unprepared to fight in a war?
gas! gas! quick, boys! –an ecstasy of fumbling,
fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
but someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
and flound'ring like a man in fire or
dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
as under a green sea, i saw him drowning.
(wilfred owen, “dulce et decorum est”)
you smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
who cheer when soldier lads march by,
sneak home and pray you'll never know
the hell where youth and laughter go.
(siegfried sassoon, “suicide in the trenches”)