This would to appeal to masses of young recruits. The last line refers to cowards "shirkers" as Pope would call them. Young men would like to be seen as brave than "sit tight " at home in safety.
The second stanza starts with,.
"Who"ll toe the line for the signal to go !? ".
"go!?" is connected to the recruitment poster campaign which tried to be easy to understand and relate to. Which was why Pope added it into her poem along with "toe the line" as it is colloquial language (words from everyday speech) and it is easy for the readers to understand. Jessie Pope uses colloquialism in a highly persuasive way,.
" Who"ll give his country a hand?".
Is very patriotic as everybody would like to think that they could support their country in some way. The next line is a metaphor for war,.
" A turn to himself in a show " .
This suggests fun and allays any fear. The last line is a comparison to football; you can either play football and join in on the fun or just spectate from a "seat in the stand". But this would consider cowardice, men who lack courage to join in. this shows that Jessie Pope is trying to brainwash the recruits it is as if they have to join up or people will think bad of them. Pope is glorifying war. Making war sound grand - sounding.
Stanza 3 shows the way Jessie Pope converts a serious injury to a bit of fun,.
"Who would rather come back with a crutch?.
Than lie low and be out of the fun".
This grim joke shows Jessie Pope's vulgar attitude to war. This is typical propaganda as this is far from the truth. Pope uses alliteration "lie low" which makes the poem memorable and makes the poem sound as if we should be glad about war.
In the last stanza Pope gets more personal and intense. Pope uses emotional black mail in the third line,.
"Your country is up to her neck in a fight".
Pope compares the country to a helpless woman.
"And she is looking and calling for you ".
This is Pope's finale, her last chance to persuade the young men.