Question

“Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad.”

1. What contrasting picture of soldiers is given in the last two lines?
2. Bring out the significance of the following phrases from the poem.
   1. 'grim and glad'
   2. 'eyes that hate you’

Answer 1

1. The lines contrast the soldiers as they left for battle serious but eager and hopeful with what war has made of them: traumatised, bitter and mentally shattered. They have returned as helpless “children,” no longer the confident men who went away.
2. “Grim and glad” describes the soldiers’ mixed feelings as they set out for battle: they faced its seriousness but were also eager and hopeful. “Eyes that hate you” conveys the anger and resentment of the traumatised soldiers, directed at those who fail to understand their suffering or casually assume they will recover.