Herbert Read attempted in ‘Kneeshaw Goes to War’ to focus on the individual human predicament by describing a particularised incident (Hilda D. Spear, Remembering, We Forget, Davis-Poynter, 1979, p.64)

A man who was marching by Kneeshaw’s side
Hesitated in the middle of the mud,
And slowly sank, weighted down by equipment and arms.
He cried for help;
Rifles were stretched to him;
He clutched and they tugged,
But slowly he sank. –

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