How is the story told in 'O What Is That Sound'?

In 'O What Is That Sound', the story is told through the format of question and response. It creates almost a dance effect because where one voice is controlled almost like the teacher, the other is panicking as if the student and this creates the pace for the poem. Each stanza is written in a quatrain to reinforce the idea of question and answer. The use of gendered voice creates separate identities for each character and allows the poem to be turned in to a story. The repetition of the word 'dear' from the husband can be connotated in two different ways, he could either be saying this to try and sooth and reassure his wife or he could be saying it in an almost sarcastic way because he's bored of trying to explain everything to her. She shows her dependence on him through words such as 'why' and 'where' because she is always asking him the questions because she doubts herself to answer them. It sounds as if it could be his young daughter asking him these questions because of the innocence and naivety. 

At the beginning of the poem it seems they are almost admiring the soldiers by explaining that their drumming thrills the ear and you only hear him first start to doubt himself and the situation when he says 'perhaps a warning' which raises questions for the reader because he doesn't explain what the warning might be for. The drumming could be the drum roll of him going to the noose or the beat of the poem. The drumming could also be imitating the ABAB quatrain rhyming pattern. The contrast from the beginning of the poem of the soldiers stepping lightly implies that they are far in the distance and the pace is slower because there isn't any imminent danger but by the end stanza, the soldiers boots are 'heavy on the floor' which implies that they are much closer and the danger is immediate which creates the tone to be panicky. 

In the fourth stanza, instead of replying with an answer, he replies with the question 'why are you kneeling?' which implies that he isn't concentrating on her when replying but that they are both concentrating on the soldiers. At first they are transfixed with curiosity of the soldiers but as the pace speeds up there is a sense of denial because they almost don't want to look away from the danger. It is confirmed that they are husband and wife when the husband tries to run from the soldiers and she says 'were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?' and this means that she's questioning his love for her. The poem is written in present tense all the way through until he replies saying 'No, I promised to love you, dear' which brings up the question of whether he still loves her or not. This leaves a tragic note to the poem.