The battle's about to end for the day.
The soldiers turn away from the lights and noise of war and head back in the direction of their camp.
There's an oh-so-subtle irony in the reference to the soldiers' "distant rest" (4).
Sure, he could be talking about the barracks to which we guess that they're headed.
Then again, they're soldiers in a war that wiped out over nine million men. Nine million.
The "distant rest" to which our soldiers are heading may just be death.
Trudging through the sludge is a pretty decent description of the trench warfare that became the battle plan for much of the First World War.
Check out our "Best of the Web" links for detailed analyses of how disgusting and awful the trenches were.