---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: His wet white face and miserable eyes…"
description: "\"“His wet white face and miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans and sighs: But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fell His troubled voice:..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg"
---

#  His wet white face and miserable eyes Brought nurses to…

![“His wet white face and miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans and sighs: But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fell His troubled voice: he did the business well. (First verse of Died of Wounds)” quote by Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg)

> ““His wet white face and miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans and sighs: But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fell His troubled voice: he did the business well. (First verse of Died of Wounds)””

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A wounded soldier's suffering draws more sympathy than pity, showing the harsh reality of war.

**In simple terms:** War pain elicits compassion, not just sorrow.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the human cost of conflict.

Themes

war suffering compassion

Mood

somber reflective

Type

poetic historical

When to use this quote

- military hospitals
- veteran support
- peace advocacy

Key Concepts

humanity psychology of trauma

Questions to Reflect On

- How does witnessing pain change our view of war?
- What responsibilities do societies have to wounded veterans?

A Different Perspective

It may romanticize suffering rather than promote healing.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/)

## Related quotes

> [His wet white face and miserable eyesBrought nurses to him more than groans and sighs:But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fellHis troubled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyesbrought-nurses-to-him-more-than/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [Died of wounds inflicted in error by his own troops at the battle of Chancellorsville during the US Civil War. Let us cross over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stonewall-jackson/died-of-wounds-inflicted-in-error-by-his-own-troops-at-the-battle-of/)

[Stonewall Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stonewall-jackson/)

> [Memorial bracelets memorializing prisoners of war, missing in action, killed in action, and those who died of wounds or injuries sustained in a combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-amos/memorial-bracelets-memorializing-prisoners-of-war-missing-in-action/)

[James F. Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-amos/)

> [Everyone has a breaking point, turning point, stress point, the game is permeated with it. The fans don't see it because we make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-winfield/everyone-has-a-breaking-point-turning-point-stress-point-the-game-is/)

[Dave Winfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-winfield/)

> [We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/we-come-unbidden-into-this-life-and-if-we-are-lucky-we-find-a-purpose/)

[Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/)

> [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/)

[Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/)

> [Who can calculate the wounds inflicted, their depth and pain, by harsh and mean words spoken in anger? How pitiful a sight is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/who-can-calculate-the-wounds-inflicted-their-depth-and-pain-by-harsh/)

[Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/)

> [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/)

[Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/)

> [You see, at the beginning we weren't fighters. We weren't yellers or throwers, even if we eventually came to be. It would take time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/you-see-at-the-beginning-we-weren-t-fighters-we-weren-t-yellers-or/)

[Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/)

> [Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?" "If you wanted me to rip my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/is-this-the-part-where-you-start-tearing-off-strips-of-your-shirt-to/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [“Time heals nothing. Wounds fester and ooze. Life drags you by a rope over rocks and stones and one day you look up, look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-thurber/time-heals-nothing-wounds-fester-and-ooze-life-drags-you-by-a-rope/)

[Bob Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-thurber/)

> [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/)

[David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/)

> [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/)

[Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/)

> [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/)

[Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/)

> [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/)

[Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/)

## More by Siegfried Sassoon

> [I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-believe-that-the-purpose-for-which-i-and-my-fellow-soldiers-entered/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [Who's this—alone with stone and sky? It's only my old dog and I— It's only him; it's only me; Alone with stone and grass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/who-s-this-alone-with-stone-and-sky-it-s-only-my-old-dog-and-i-it-s/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [And the wind upon its way whispered the boughs of May, And touched the nodding peony flowers to bid them waken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/and-the-wind-upon-its-way-whispered-the-boughs-of-may-and-touched-the/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“Suicide in the trenches: I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/suicide-in-the-trenches-i-knew-a-simple-soldier-boy-who-grinned-at/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [The visionless officialized fatuityThat once kept Europe safe for Perpetuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/the-visionless-officialized-fatuitythat-once-kept-europe-safe-for/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“I died in hell. They called it Passchendaele.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-died-in-hell-they-called-it-passchendaele/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“I am banished from the patient men who fight. They smote my heart to pity, built my pride. Shoulder to aching shoulder, side by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-am-banished-from-the-patient-men-who-fight-they-smote-my-heart-to/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [December stillness, teach me through your trees That loom along the west, one with the land, The veiled evangel of your mysteries. While nightfall,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/december-stillness-teach-me-through-your-trees-that-loom-along-the/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-am-not-protesting-against-the-conduct-of-the-war-but-against-the/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“Dim, gradual thinning of the shapeless gloom Shudders to drizzling daybreak that reveals Disconsolate men who stamp their sodden boots And turn dulled, sunken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/dim-gradual-thinning-of-the-shapeless-gloom-shudders-to-drizzling/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“In 1917 I was only beginning to learn that life, for the majority of the population, is an unlovely struggle against unfair odds, culminating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/in-1917-i-was-only-beginning-to-learn-that-life-for-the-majority-of/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“Phantoms of thought and memory thinned and fled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/phantoms-of-thought-and-memory-thinned-and-fled/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [Oh yes, I know the way to heaven was easy. We found the little kingdom of our passion that all can share who walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/oh-yes-i-know-the-way-to-heaven-was-easy-we-found-the-little-kingdom/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [“I keep such music in my brain No din this side of death can quell; Glory exulting over pain, And beauty, garlanded in hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-keep-such-music-in-my-brain-no-din-this-side-of-death-can-quell/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

> [And it's been proved that soldiers don't go mad Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts That drive them out to jabber among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/and-it-s-been-proved-that-soldiers-don-t-go-mad-unless-they-lose/)

[Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

[Explore all 65 Siegfried Sassoon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/)

## More Wounds quotes

> [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/)

[Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/)

> [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/)

[Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/)

> [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/)

[Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/)

> [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/)

[David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/)

> [“Time heals nothing. Wounds fester and ooze. Life drags you by a rope over rocks and stones and one day you look up, look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-thurber/time-heals-nothing-wounds-fester-and-ooze-life-drags-you-by-a-rope/)

[Bob Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-thurber/)

> [Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?" "If you wanted me to rip my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/is-this-the-part-where-you-start-tearing-off-strips-of-your-shirt-to/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [You see, at the beginning we weren't fighters. We weren't yellers or throwers, even if we eventually came to be. It would take time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/you-see-at-the-beginning-we-weren-t-fighters-we-weren-t-yellers-or/)

[Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/)

> [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/)

[Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/)

> [Who can calculate the wounds inflicted, their depth and pain, by harsh and mean words spoken in anger? How pitiful a sight is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/who-can-calculate-the-wounds-inflicted-their-depth-and-pain-by-harsh/)

[Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/)

> [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/)

[Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/)

> [We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/we-come-unbidden-into-this-life-and-if-we-are-lucky-we-find-a-purpose/)

[Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/)

> [Everyone has a breaking point, turning point, stress point, the game is permeated with it. The fans don't see it because we make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-winfield/everyone-has-a-breaking-point-turning-point-stress-point-the-game-is/)

[Dave Winfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-winfield/)

> [The tongue of slander is too prompt with wanton malice to wound the stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-tongue-of-slander-is-too-prompt-with-wanton-malice-to-wound-the/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [The holy heaven yearns to wound the earth, and yearning layeth hold on the earth to join in wedlock; the rain, fallen from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-holy-heaven-yearns-to-wound-the-earth-and-yearning-layeth-hold-on/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [She dotes on poetry, sir. She adores it; I may say that her whole soul and mind are wound up, and entwined with it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/she-dotes-on-poetry-sir-she-adores-it-i-may-say-that-her-whole-soul/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

[Browse all 1,943 Wounds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“His wet white face and miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans and sighs: But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fell His troubled voice: he did the business well. (First verse of Died of Wounds)”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Siegfried Sassoon"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-brought-nurses-to-him-more-than/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Wounds"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-brought-nurses-to-him-more-than/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/siegfried-sassoon-10445_wounds_his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-br_2865138.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“His wet white face and miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans and sighs: But hoarse and low…” — Siegfried Sassoon",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Siegfried Sassoon",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“His wet white face and miserable...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-brought-nurses-to-him-more-than/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/his-wet-white-face-and-miserable-eyes-brought-nurses-to-him-more-than/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
