The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Tyanan, Katharine. “Joining the Colours.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57291/joining-the-colours.

Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

Originally titled “Joining The Colours (West Kents, Dublin, August 1914),” and later shortened to simply “Joining the Colours,” this poem was inspired by poet Katharine Tynan’s sons leaving to join the war. It first appeared in the Westminster Gazette, then was reprinted in The Queen's Own Gazette, both in 1914. This poem takes place on a busy street in Dublin as a tram full of young men pulls away; the boys joyously cheer, but the speaker knows they’re headed to their deaths.