Suicide in the trenches: I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. * * * * * 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.

Sassoon's bravery was inspiring to the extent that soldiers of his company said that they felt confident only when they were accompanied by him. He later won acclaim for his prose work notably his three-volume fictionalised autobiography collectively known as the "Sherston Trilogy". At Craiglockhart Sassoon met Wilfred Owen a fellow poet who would eventually exceed him in fame.

He later won acclaim for his prose work notably his three-volume fictionalised autobiography collectively known as the "Sherston Trilogy". His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who in Sassoon's view were responsible for a vainglorious war.