The farmers
The farmers are the first characters introduced in Line 1 of the poem. As they "[tend] the land back into itself," they uncover graves. The role of farmers is to grow and cultivate plants and livestock with the intention of supporting human life. There is poetic significance in that those responsible for sustaining life are the first in the poem to uncover death.
The wasted young
These are the soldiers who fought and died at the battle of Mametz Wood. The poet not only describes their unearthed bones but conjures their living presence by stating that "they were told to walk, not run" (Line 8). The "wasted young" did not die in peace; they are restless dead with unfinished business that must be attended to. This is expressed through the paused movement of their dancing and the music slipping into the present day from their absent tongues.
The earth
The earth "stands sentinel" in Line 10 as it, like the poet, seeks to look back in time to understand what happened at the battle of Mametz Wood. Sheers makes clear his stance on war when he calls this active reflection a "wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin" (Line 12). The landscape of the battle site was forever marked by the terrible violence that occurred there.
The twenty men
The twenty men buried in one long grave are among the "wasted young," but they become the central image of the poem when Sheers describes them as a broken mosaic that dances and sings.
