A small point. 'Jesu' is a devotional form of the name of Jesus Christ which appears in various places in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549 and universally used until 1980 when it was relegated to the category of 'special interest' by the bishops, who were clumsily 'modernising'. The word is prononced 'Jeez-you'. This would have been the pronunciation familiar to Sassoon from daily services at his prIvate English school. I believe he attended Marlborough School in Wiltshire, where the current Princess of Wales was educated. The use of 'Jesu' rather than 'Jesus' here adds to the quiet intensity of the poet's ardent plea to God for an end to the war and its horror.
A small point. 'Jesu' is a devotional form of the name of Jesus Christ which appears in various places in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549 and universally used until 1980 when it was relegated to the category of 'special interest' by the bishops, who were clumsily 'modernising'. The word is prononced 'Jeez-you'. This would have been the pronunciation familiar to Sassoon from daily services at his prIvate English school. I believe he attended Marlborough School in Wiltshire, where the current Princess of Wales was educated. The use of 'Jesu' rather than 'Jesus' here adds to the quiet intensity of the poet's ardent plea to God for an end to the war and its horror.