Sarcasm
Pope writes about the struggles of the nation of Great Britain during WWI. While discussing this heavy subject, her poetry retains a light-hearted tone, approaching apathy. Because the horrors of warfare are so obvious, Pope takes a sarcastic approach in her descriptions. She does not focus upon the darkness and the violence and the loss; instead she flippantly discusses the ready participation of all types of people in the war. Her approach is somewhat confrontational to readers who are previously unfamiliar with Pope's writing style because it does openly neglect half the story of war.
Pope's poem "Who's For The Game" most appropriately embodies this sarcastic tone. She portrays war as a strategy game, involving performers and spectators. There is no mention of death, destruction, or violence. Rather, the ideas of valor, solidarity, and sacrifice are presented. Seemingly Pope is appropriating the message of wartime propaganda in her own words in order to confront readers with the shockingly one-sided description which allows for no cowardice or grief.
Active Participation
In praise of her nation's success in the war, Pope focuses many of her poems upon the active participation of the British people in WWI. Poem after poem identifies all different groups of individuals, types of people, who shouldered unusual responsibilities for the sake their nation's survival and ultimate victory. These people include the women who worked men's jobs in their absence, described in "War Girls." From least to greatest, the emphasis is upon active participation of each individual. Pope emphasizes how every person has something to offer which may be insignificant to them but which is crucial to the success of the nation in the war because perhaps those with more to offer are no longer available to fulfill the role which a less capable person must now accept.
Additionally, Pope lays out different groups or types of people in contrast with one another in order to illustrate their complimentary functions. There are the women and the men of "War Girls." While men become soldiers, they leave behind the women to keep the country running. In "Who's For The Game" there are performers -- soldiers -- and spectators -- those unable to fight. While the soldiers certainly receive more praise, they are not the only group of people to factor into the war. The spectators are a necessary class, though ascribed with less honor. Finally, in "No!" Pope draws a contrast between the experienced general and the young recruit. Both contribute radically different skills to the war but both remain essential.
British Fortitude
Pope is a British poet, so her perspective upon Britain's involvement in the Great War is as an insider. She proudly proclaims the honors of the British in their active participation and solidarity in winning the war because she understands what that honor means to the people. "No!" relates this insider's perspective in a way which appeals to the courage and national unity of Great Britain. As individual citizens conquer their own unique fears and challenges in order to contribute, they compose a larger whole which is the summation of the British people's history in opposition to the Axis forces.
