Who's for the Game? Jessie Pope

Who’s for the Game? by Jessie Pope is a WW1 propaganda poem. The poem is, perhaps, one of the most hated poems by students across the UK as the message does not sit well with a modern audience. Each year when I teach this poem, students are disgusted by the thought of being encouraged to sign up under false pretenses. Read on and see if you can defend this poem, or if you agree with my students in their complete hatred towards this poem!

This study guide is written for students and teachers of English Literature, particularly those studying CCEA’s GCSE English Literature Conflict Anthology. For more study guides from this anthology, check out the Conflict page, or the list of poems in the series at the bottom of this guide.

Who's for the Game?

Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played,
The red crashing game of a fight?
Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?
And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?

Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’?
Who’ll give his country a hand?
Who wants a turn to himself in the show?
And who wants a seat in the stand?

Who knows it won’t be a picnic – not much –
Yet eagerly shoulders a gun?
Who would much rather come back with a crutch
Than lie low and be out of the fun?

Come along, lads – But you’ll come on all right –
For there’s only one course to pursue,
Your country is up to her neck in a fight,
And she’s looking and calling for you.

What is 'Who's for the Game?' about?

Summary of verse 1

Pope opens by directly addressing young men, asking who among them is eager to participate in the war. She presents war as an exciting and thrilling game, enticing the reader with the prospect of glory and adventure.

Summary of verse 2

In this verse, Pope contrasts the action and excitement of war with the mundane and uneventful life of those who choose not to enlist. She portrays war as an opportunity for young men to escape from the monotony of daily life and experience something extraordinary.

Summary of verse 3

Pope continues to appeal to the reader’s sense of duty and patriotism, emphasising the importance of defending one’s country. She uses rhetorical questions to challenge the reader’s courage and commitment, urging them to step up and join the fight.

Summary of verse 4

In the final verse, Pope reinforces the idea that war is a noble and honorable endeavor. She encourages young men to seize the opportunity to make a difference and be remembered as heroes. The poem ends with a rallying cry, urging the reader to enlist and join the ranks of those who are bravely fighting for their country.

Context of 'Who's for the Game?'

Jessie Pope's life, education and career

Jessie Pope was born on 18th March 1868 in Leicester, England. She attended an all-girls school, the North London Collegiate School, where she honed her literary skills, and later, was a well-known writer for Punch magazine, a weekly satirical publication, as well as The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.

Pope’s work was popular and published in its day due to the patriotism with which she wrote. During Pope’s life, tensions in Europe mounted, and World War One broke out. Pope’s passion for England and her sense of duty spurred on her verse, which was used as propaganda material to encourage young men to enlist in the army.

Context of 'Who's for the Game?'

World War One and conscription

During the early years of the First World War, it was not yet compulsory for men to enlist. When war broke out, the army recruited, and many men felt a sense of duty to join in, spurred on by the ‘your army needs you’ style of posters and propaganda that was published daily. This worked to an extent, with over one million men joining the army, but it was simply not enough to keep up with the scale of fighting and the scale of losses.

Eventually, conscription was introduced in January 1916 for men between the ages of 18 and 41, swelling the numbers significantly. It is believed conscription added approximately 2.5 million men to the army during the years between 1916 and 1920. For more, see the Parliament.uk website.

Pope, already known for her jingoistic (extremely patriotic) poems, wrote and published ‘Who’s for the Game?’ in 1915 before conscription was introduced. At this time, propaganda was working hard to swell numbers in the British army.

Critical reception to 'Who's for the Game?'

Pope’s poem contributed to the pro-war government message: it is your duty to support the war effort in every way possible.

The poem was first published in the Daily Mail, a paper read widely by working-class men. While this message was received more positively in the early years of the war, it became much less popular as the grim reality of war became known. Indeed, as a female poet, Pope knew nothing of the reality of war and had been widely criticised for downplaying the horrors for pro-war purposes.

Wilfred Owen, a soldier-poet who experienced the front line first-hand, and experienced shell shock and injury first-hand, wrote ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ directly to Jessie Pope, in response to ‘Who’s for the Game?’ In Owen’s poem, after depicting the frightening, traumatic and physically horrifying scenes of a gas attack, he ends his poem with a haunting challenge to those back home. He says:

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est

In these lines, Owen calls the idea that ‘it is sweet and honourable to die for your country’ an ‘old lie’. To read more about Wilfred Owen and another of his war poems, check out ThinkLit’s study guide for Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen.

Pope’s popularity waned significantly towards the end of the war, and since. Now, her poetry is presented to children in schools as a contrast to the images of great war poets such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke and others. Often, students feel angry towards this poem. They feel she misled many, with tragic consequences.

Line-by-line analysis

Stanza 1

Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played,

The opening question is designed to persuade readers to join in.
The abbreviation of ‘who is’ to ‘who’s’ makes this conversational, causal and friendly.
The superlative adjective ‘biggest’ emphasises the positive image that Pope puts forward, that this ‘game’ includes everyone who wants to be there.
The verb ‘played’, and the noun ‘game’, paint a very clear picture of fun, excitement and action. A very positive image is painted in this opening line.

The red crashing game of a fight?

In line two, the imagery is made more clear: the metaphor of a boxing match is created.
The adjective ‘red’ speaks of excitement and pumping blood, intensified by the adjective ‘crashing’ to describe the game. ‘Crashing’ appeals to the target audience of young men who might feed off the excitement of boxing, rugby or similar sports.
Pope finishes the opening question with the question mark, ending the line with a pause to allow the reader to think and process the imagery they have just read, before moving into line three.

Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?

Line three uses anaphora, which is the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of another nearby sentence. Here, the second line repeats the ‘Who’ from line one, creating the second of three opening questions.
The verbs ‘grip’ and ‘tackle’ are active verbs, creating imagery of actions used in a rugby game or similar.
This shorter question is completed on the line, creating a slight increase in the pace.
The pause at the end of each line helps to embed the rhyming sounds of ‘played’ and ‘unafraid’. See below for rhyme scheme analysis.

And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?

The slight variation of the opening of this line creates a lively and upbeat tone, adding to the sense that this activity is fun.
The alternative to joining in is given here: if you ‘sit tight’, you miss out. The reader is being pushed towards one very clear positive option, put side by side with the alternative which is to be left out. This is emphasised by the rhyming of the two contrasts of ‘fight’ vs ‘sit tight’.
The use of the third person pronoun ‘he’ in this line makes it very clear who is being spoken to: the young men needed to join the war effort. Using ‘he’ creates a sense of distance from this imagined person who won’t join the war effort by fighting, emphasising the persuasive tone of the stanza.

Stanza 2

Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’?

Stanza 2 opens in much the same way as stanza 1, with the use of anaphora to ask the question ‘Who…?’
The imperative command ‘Go!’ is given more impact with the exclamation mark. The reader has been moved in their thinking from the comforts of home to the battlefield where a signal has been given, action is happening and orders are being shouted.
‘Toe the line’ evokes a sense of carrying out your duty of protecting others. The ‘line’ could be both a reference to the literal line i.e. the front line, or it could suggest upholding the ‘party line’ i.e. the values for which the war is being fought.

Who’ll give his country a hand?

To ‘give a hand’ is to help out. The conversational style here downplays what it means in this context to ‘give a hand’ i.e. to risk your life and your safety and to give up everything to join the war.
As in stanza 1, stanza 2 uses short, one-line questions to repeatedly ask the reader the same question: will you enlist?
The possessive pronoun ‘his’ attached to ‘his country’ is another method of creating emotional blackmail, emphasising the reader’s duty to enlist. The burden of responsibility is placed firmly on the shoulders of the individual readers, as it is their country needing help.

Who wants a turn to himself in the show?

Anaphora is employed again, with the effect of lulling the reader into a familiar pattern. The expected answer to all of these questions is the same. In this line, the reader is asked to step up, as if onto a stage to perform. The phrasing is made to seem very positive as if you’ll miss out on your turn if you hesitate.
As in the previous stanza, the opening three lines present positive opportunities to take part/enlist, and the fourth line of the stanza presents the opposite option: to miss out and appear weak, afraid or disloyal.

And who wants a seat in the stand?

The structure of line four echoes the structure of stanza 1, with the opening connective ‘And’.
This line provides a juxtaposition to the previous three lines. It suggests that those who don’t get involved are sitting in the audience watching.
The sibilance (repeated ‘s’ sound) created in ‘seat in the stand’ creates a hissing sound, which combines with the negative implication of being a bystander, and contributes to the overall message of the poem which is that those who don’t enlist are cowardly.

Stanza 3

Who knows it won’t be a picnic – not much –

Stanza 3 opens with a metaphor of a picnic, known as an enjoyable, sociable and easy activity. To compare war to a picnic in any way, even by saying it ‘won’t be a picnic’, downplays the severity of the task.
To underplay the importance of something by saying what it is not is a rhetorical device known as litotes. To refer to war by saying ‘it won’t be a picnic’ is an example of litotes: as the dictionary says, it is ‘an ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary’. (For more on litotes, click here to read this great Guardian article Litotes: the most common rhetorical device you’ve never heard of).
The hyphens before and after ‘-not much-‘ create pauses, as if to emphasise the conversational tone and to sound more relatable.
Again, the choice of ‘not much’ underplays the weight of the request to enlist.

Yet eagerly shoulders a gun?

The adverb ‘eagerly’ emphasises the intention of the speaker, to present those who enlist as brave, happy and living up to their full potential.
The previous line opens the question which is completed on this line, a pattern established in stanza 1.
The picture presented of a new recruit who ‘shoulders a gun’ appeals to those with a sense of adventure, who otherwise, might not come across a gun in their ordinary life. There is naivety in this image: shouldering a gun is one thing, but firing a gun in the face of an attack is a very different thing. Many of the men who returned alive were unable to stop the PTSD, having both shouldered and used a gun.

Who would much rather come back with a crutch

Pope again downplays the severity of injuries by suggesting that you might come back with a crutch. This is naïve enough to anger many readers who had suffered much greater injuries themselves or were caring for injured soldiers.

Than lie low and be out of the fun?

Again, the structure is repeated where the first three lines present a picture of brave, eager and honourable men who will enlist versus the scared, disloyal and cowardly men who will miss out on the ‘fun’ of war, as presented in the fourth line of the stanza. Repetition is also used in the use of the question.
The negative tone is repeated in the alliteration of ‘lie low’.

Stanza 4

Come along, lads – But you’ll come on all right –

In stanza four, the pattern of the previous three stanzas changes with a call to action, typical of the ending of most persuasive writing.
The imperative of ‘Come along’ gives the reader encouragement to take the action required by the speaker.
The direct address here is an informal, colloquial choice, ‘lads’, making Pope’s target audience clear: young men.
The hyphens create pauses to allow the message time to sink in.
The speaker uses direct address in this line with ‘you’ll’.

For there’s only one course to pursue,

The reader is presented with only one option in response: sign up.

Your country is up to her neck in a fight,

Direct address is used to fully engage the reader in the final two lines. This line opens, and the next line closes, with ‘you’: the second person pronoun leaves the reader in no doubt as to what they should do.
Britain is personified here as female. The imagery is clear: there is a damsel in distress and a strong young man is needed to rescue her. This imagery might appeal to the readers of the Daily Mail in 1915. It is typical of the style of posters used during this time. See this link for examples of World War One propaganda posters.
‘Up to her neck’ is a colloquial phrase meaning ‘fully involved’, used here to create the informal, familiar tone which helps to create a rapport with the reader.

And she’s looking and calling for you.

The personification of Britain as female continues in this final line.
The verbs ‘looking’ and ‘calling’ are active, and suggest an urgent need or desire, appealing to the readers’ sense of stepping up as a hero.
The strong rhyme sounds throughout the poem, especially in this final line, emphasise the keywords and message. The rhyme of ‘pursue’ and ‘you’ creates a strong final call to the reader to enlist.

Analysis of form and structure

Verse structure

‘Who’s for the Game?’ is composed of 16 lines organised into four quatrains (four-line stanzas). The verse structure is regular, keeping to a very consistent pattern. This regularity works alongside the pro-war message. Perhaps in the regular, formal structure, there is a hint of the regular, formal nature of the army. The call to action is to enlist in the army, and the highly structured, repetitive nature of the verse is a suitable form to use for this.

Rhythm

The rhythm of ‘Who’s for the Game?’ is mainly a regular pattern of anapest feet. This means that the feet are composed of three syllables, in the pattern: unstressed, unstressed, stressed i.e. de de dum, de de dum, de de dum.

In the first and third lines of each stanza, there are four feet (i.e. four stressed syllables) and in the second and fourth lines, there are three feet (i.e. three stressed syllables).

To create the extra stressed syllable, the first foot on lines one and three is iambic (i.e. two syllables in the pattern: unstressed then stressed i.e. de dum).

Look, for example, at the final two lines:

Your coun/try is up/ to her neck/ in a fight,
And she’s look/ing and call/ing for you.

The overall effect of this anapest rhythm is a sense of driving forward or galloping like a horse. The upbeat rhythm has a positive effect on the reader, contributing to the persuasive effect

Rhyme

As with the verse structure, the rhyme scheme in the poem is regular, following the pattern ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH.

This alternate rhyme scheme adds to the verse structure in creating a highly organised and consistent piece.

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Themes in 'Who's for the Game?'

Patriotism

The poem reflects a strong sense of patriotism and nationalism, encouraging young men to enlist in the military to serve their country. It presents war as a glorious and honourable duty that every able-bodied man should willingly embrace for the sake of national pride and victory.

Romanticising War

Pope romanticises and glamorises war, portraying it as an exciting and heroic adventure. The language used in the poem suggests that war is a game, a form of entertainment that young men should eagerly participate in. It is similar to the style of visual posters used in the government’s propaganda efforts during WWI. This perspective contrasts with the harsh realities of warfare.

Pope simplifies the complexities and horrors of war. By presenting it as a game or a sport, she downplays the actual dangers and challenges soldiers face on the battlefield, potentially misleading young men about the harsh realities of combat.

Peer Pressure and Guilt

The poem utilises peer pressure and guilt as tactics to persuade men to join the war effort. It implies that those who do not enlist are somehow lacking in courage and masculinity, contributing to a sense of shame or inadequacy among those who might be considering staying behind.

Recruitment and Propaganda

The poem can be seen as a recruitment tool, aiming to boost enlistment numbers during a time of war. It aligns with the broader propaganda efforts of the period that sought to rally public support for the war and encourage voluntary enlistment before conscription laws were passed in 1916, making it compulsory for men of a certain age to enlist.

Quiz

Who’s for the Game? Quiz

Test your knowledge of the poem 'Who's for the Game?' by Jessie Pope.

Comprehension Questions on 'Who's for the Game?' by Jessie Pope

What is the main theme of Jessie Pope’s poem “Who’s for the Game?”
How does Jessie Pope portray war in her poem? Give examples from the text.
Who is the intended audience of “Who’s for the Game?” How can you tell?
Discuss the use of metaphor in the poem. What is war compared to, and why do you think Pope chose this comparison?
What tone does Jessie Pope use in “Who’s for the Game?” How does it affect the reader’s perception of war?
How does the poem’s structure (rhyme scheme, rhythm) contribute to its overall message?
Identify and discuss the use of rhetorical questions in the poem. What purpose do they serve?
How does Jessie Pope address the concept of patriotism in her poem?
Compare and contrast “Who’s for the Game?” with another poem from your anthology that you have studied. How do their perspectives on war differ?
What is your personal reaction to “Who’s for the Game?” Do you think it is an effective piece of war propaganda? Why or why not?

Other poems from the CCEA Conflict Anthology to pair with 'Who's for the Game?'

'Anthem for Doomed Youth' by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen’s poetry provides a complete contrast in its tone, point of view and pace. ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ accuses the church and state of condemning young men to die, while Pope’s jingoistic poem encourages men to enlist so they don’t miss out on the ‘fun’. There is plenty for students to contrast in the use of imagery, rhythm and rhyme, and the personal experiences of the poets of these two contrasting poems.

Vitaï Lampada by Henry Newbolt

Newbolt’s poem offers a comparison in terms of its message: both Newbolt and Pope speak to the worth and positivity of enlisting and serving your country. While Newbolt seems more aware of the dangers, Pope downplays it, however, both see duty as an overriding principle to guide a young man’s decision. Both poems have been used in the government’s WWI war effort to encourage enlistment, and so their contexts are easy to compare. There is also plenty to find in the rhythm and rhyme schemes, as both poems take a structured and regular approach.