Much of the work produced by Soviet writers in the Stalinist period can be criticised for being repetitive and formulaic, and the principal reason for this fault is usually identified as socialist realism, the literary method imposed on writers by the state. Although there were signs of change and originality in some of the poetry written and published during the war years, a good deal of it conforms to expectations by dealing with a narrow range of themes in standardised language. The most consistently-used theme in Soviet poetry during four years of war, and one associated with a markedly formulaic treatment, was that of heroism. The heroism evoked is not that of the faceless masses, but of individuals whose actions are performed in the spirit of self-sacrifice. A typical poem by Sergei Vasil'ev, not a major poet, adopts the theme, widespread in wartime poetry, of the signaller who dies while repairing communications lines. His corpse is found, as so often in poems on the subject, with the wires clenched between his teeth. Some poets restrict themselves to this proof of devotion to duty after death, but Vasil'ev includes a plethora of other details as supporting evidence: