For years afterwards the farmers found them—
the wasted young...
The first class of characters that the poet introduces are farmers, people responsible for tending to the earth to sustain human life. Farmers must be attuned to the plants and animals they work with to succeed at what they do. Sheers often casts nature as a force that humans must learn from in his poetry, and "Mametz Wood" is no exception. Later on in the poem, the earth reaches back into itself to remember what happened. The poet suggests that humans must do the same.
The term "wasted youth" implies a tragic and senseless disruption of the natural life cycle. It is not yet explicitly clear in the poem that their death came about as a result of war, unless the reader researches or already knows what happened at Mametz Wood. This shows a holding-back on the part of the poet; this poem is not just about the fast and terrible violence of war, but about the slow ways it seeps into the earth and into human consciousness.
And even now the earth stands sentinel,
reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened
like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin.
As more artifacts are unearthed, the past spirals continuously into the present. This is the first stanza that dives fully into the present tense, but in order to move forward, the events of the past must be reckoned with. As the earth "stands sentinel," one must consider what it is guarding and what it is guarding against. The earth reaches "back into itself" to find a gravesite. The use of the phrase "foreign body" in the simile "like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin" seemingly equates the bones of the wasted youth to a disease-causing agent. However, it is more likely that the poet is equating the process of war itself with destruction. It is this inclination for destruction that the earth stands guard against. As more reminders are brought to the surface, it is more likely that healing can occur.
Sheers often writes of nature as an active teaching force in his work. If here the earth is "reaching back into itself" and serving as a model for humanity to follow, then this suggests that humans must not only excavate the land for reminders of what happened, but that they must also dive into their own selves to reflect and carry this responsibility into the future.
As if the notes they had sung
have only now, with this unearthing,
slipped from their absent tongues.
This final stanza simultaneously shows the dehumanizing effects of war while humanizing the felled soldiers by giving them a voice in the poem. It is interesting to note that the skeletons sing instead of speak. Along with the earlier description of "skeletons paused mid dance-macabre," these characterizations serve multiple purposes. Singing and dancing are essential to the human experience, and yet here they are placed side by side with grotesque details. The soldiers' absent tongues demonstrates the decomposition of their bodies over time, but the fact that the "notes they had sung" can be heard within the poem humanizes them (Line 19).
