Motley was the traditional costume of the court jester, and was comprised of different coloured fabrics.

Shakespeare refers to motley in As You Like It

Motley’s the only wear.

By saying that he was “…certain that they and I/But lived where motley is worn…” Yeats is conveying his previous perception that those involved in the uprising were not to be taken seriously. This perception obviously ‘changed utterly’ when the uprising, despite being a failure, was recognised as a crucial turning point in Irish history.

In retrospect, Yeats is acknowledging that his views towards the rebels changed as their sacrifice helped to liberate their country from British rule.

The earlier subtle emphasis on the server-lad had a purpose. But this is unexpected.

The speaker reacted to his disenchantment with Christianity by kissing the server-lad’s hand.

So what do we make of this? The modern reader will see this as homoerotic; an unexpected and blasphemous (given the context and the era) yearning for a young man, while supposedly praying in church. Owen is known to have been homosexual and that is certainly a correct interpretation.

But it is also relevant to view this as his contemporaries might have done in a more innocent era, as simply an act of warmth towards another human, given that he was not drawn in by the Catholic mode of worship. Note the rather contemptuous ‘thing’.

There is also the possibility that Wilfred Owen’s compassion simply drew him to humanity and the ‘warm live hand’, rather than what he saw as a meaningless ritual. We should bear in mind the suffering he witnessed during the War and his deep sadness for the men who perished.

It would seem on first reading that the process is matter-of-fact, emphasising the lifelessness of the hard, metal image. The repetition of ‘and’ forms a syndetic list, suggesting the mechanical nature of the poet’s act of worship.

One student interpreted this differently, suggesting that ‘thin and cold and very dead’ conveys Christ’s suffering. His earthly body would naturally be cold after his spirit ascended to heaven. The repeated ‘and’s might suggest emphasis.

It is certainly open to interpretation.

We can interpret this is as the speaker seeing the crucifix for what it is; it is not described as an emblem or doll or Body of Christ.

The speaker once again emphasizes the acolyte, or follower. His presence is important. It is worth remembering the vivid description of his brown hands; the only human who seems alive and real.

Each group of people and their manner of worship is given a brief parenthetic description. The reason Owen does this is open to interpretation, but it suggests a detached observer, uninvolved in worship, but interested in human behaviour.

The children kiss a silver doll, where the men kissed an emblem and the women kissed the Body of Christ.

The children are innocent and interpret the crucifix through what they know: dolls. Children are attracted to bright things, so this is what Owen emphasises.

The ritual is lost on them, probably just as much as it is lost on the men.

Compare these children with the reluctant men and the mourning women.

The children are eager to participate in this act of worship. But they don’t understand what they are commemorating.

Note the rapid pace of this line, which represents the quick movements of the children.

Compare this with the ‘emblem of a creed’ that the men kissed.

The women clearly believed in the significance of what they were kissing:

The women, unlike the men, are actually mourning. They are genuinely sad as they commemorate the Last Supper.

However, they have meek mouths, which could suggest passivity and lack of intellectual awareness of the meaning of the religious act. Perhaps Owen wanted to critique the oppression of women in Christianity, or maybe it was an observation of how women functioned in society in France. Consider what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:34:

Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

On the other hand, meekness is a virtue in Christianity. Matthew 5:5 famously tells us, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

The line is cleverly constructed, with alliterative ’m’s and long slow vowels in ‘meek mouths’, as if the women were sluggish and the act of worship derived from habit. However, there is something soothing and hymn-like in the soft ’m' sounds, as if their faith gave them comfort.