As you read Findley's The Wars, I would like you to read World War 1 poetry and write a blog entry.
Your blog posting must include in this order:
- The poem (including title, poet's name, date)
- Your response
- Everyone must have a unique poem.
- You can reserve your poem by posting the title of the poem you would like to use as soon as you want. Post it here, in this thread.
- When your assignment is ready, just delete your 'reservation' post, and submit your real one.
In your response, I would like you to use the following guide to structure your posting.
A Framework for Responding to Poetry
Introduction:
- Briefly introduce the title of the poem and name of the poet.
- Try to classify the type of poem it is e.g. sonnet, ballad, haiku, acrostic, shape, lyric, ode, limerick, elegy, dramatic monologue etc.
- Briefly explain the subject of the poem.
Point One: Explore the Themes of the Poem
- Try to group the ideas in the poem is there a story that the poem tells?
- What do you think the poem is about?
Point Two: Imagery used to express themes
- What are the pictures in the poem?
- Are metaphors/similes used to explain ideas?
- Are the five senses used to evoke certain reactions in the reader?
Point Three: Form and Structure
- How is the poem organised e.g. lines, verses, layout and shape.
- Why has the poet decided to structure the ideas in this way e.g. the sequence of ideas, length of lines, patterns etc.
Point Four: Rhyme and Rhythm
- How does the poem rhyme? E.g. abab or aabb etc.
- What is the rhythm of the poem when read aloud?
- Why has the poet chosen this rhyme and rhythm to express these ideas?
Point Five: Language Patterns
- Think about the sound of the poem and choice of words
- The poet uses specific words because they have a certain association in the reader's mind.
- Look out for alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, personification, symbolism. How has the poet grouped words to achieve a desired effect?
Conclusion: Poet's message
- What is the poet trying to communicate to the reader?
- How effective are the devices/language that he uses?
- What is your response to the poem?
I suggest trying the school library or the public library before you try the searching the Internet for poems.
Please note, if you use a search engine to look for poetry, please note that "one", "1", and "I" all give different results.
29 comments:
The Night Cometh
Cometh the night. The wind falls low,
The trees swing slowly to and fro:
Around the church the headstones grey
Cluster, like children strayed away
But found again, and folded so.
No chiding look doth she bestow:
If she is glad, they cannot know;
If ill or well they spend their day,
Cometh the night.
Singing or sad, intent they go;
They do not see the shadows grow;
“There yet is time,” they lightly say,
“Before our work aside we lay”;
Their task is but half done, and lo!
Cometh the night.
John McCrae
Response
The poem “The night Cometh” is a limerick written by John McCrae. This limerick is about the dead during WWI and how they were lost as they left for the war and will all one day come back together after they die. It is about how the dead accepted their death no matter how it came, that their work is only half done, and one day they will be remembered for their work.
In this limerick, you get a picture of a dark night with a slow breeze and an old church filled with headstones. You also get a picture of a woman staring blankly with no expression watching over the graves of the dead. The headstones clustered around the church are related to the children that have been lost but are found again. The Children are symbols of the men who went away to war and were separated from their family and friends but brought back together by death as they lay together in their graves. The wind and swinging trees give you a sense of an eerie creaking noise that can be heard at the cemetery.
This poem is set up into three different verses in a fashion of that of a limerick. The poet has structured his ideas this way because he has three different ideas in which he portrays in three different verses to spread out his ideas.
This poem rhymes in an aabba fashion in a flowing rhythm when read aloud. The flowing Rhythm however is broken up by the three verses of the poem. The poet choose that rhythm style to fit the format of a limerick and the rhythm of the poem helps you to be able to read the poem flowingly and makes it more enjoyable to read.
The title of the poem its self is a symbol, as “The night Cometh” is a symbol for death and the end. McCrae chooses many dark words to get across to you the point of death and the end. Signing or sad, describes how they would have accepted their death without choice and the fact that they cannot see their deaths coming. He also uses personification as he says “the wind falls low” implying the wind can fall low in a sense to show you that the wind calms down to give way to a calm Night Cometh.
The poet is trying to communicate to us how men in the war went out to die fro us and when they die, their work will only be half done and left to others to complete. McCrae is trying to show, how when the “Night Cometh” or you die, during the war we are re-united with our friends. The men in the war took their death no matter how they felt to help complete the task others died for until they themselves die. “The Night Cometh” means the end of man, leaving unfinished task to be complete by us so those men who died shall live on in our memories. McCrae use of Metaphors and symbols are effective in explaining his thoughts into his poem. McCrae’s poem was well written and contained a strong message of the end and how it affected soldiers.
Iron
Guns,
Long, steel guns,
Pointed from the war ships
In the name of the war god.
Straight, shining, polished guns,
Clambered over with jackies in white blouses,
Glory of tan faces, tousled hair, white teeth,
Laughing lithe jackies in white blouses,
Sitting on the guns singing war songs, war chanties.
Shovels,
Broad, iron shovels,
Scooping out oblong vaults,
Loosening turf and leveling sod.
I ask you
To witness-
The shovel is brother to the gun.
The poem I chose to do is called “Iron”. Iron was written by the poet Carl Sandberg and is a limerick. “Iron” is a poem written during World War I. Talking about all of the guns and how we as the world developed very quickly into having such as tool as a gun.
In Carl Sandberg’s Iron you picture guns, war, death, blood, hurt, wounds, and agony. You get this because guns cause all of this. The picture of old war movies come into my head, old pictures of war times that you’ve seen, memories that have been told to you by an elder. I think this poem tells a story of men going to war with new tools, and in the end still having to use their old tools, the shovel. Men singing songs and chanting things trying to get what’s really happening out of their head, because its hell.
This poem has many different, pictures. It’s different to everyone who reads it. Everybody will in someway interpret the poem differently, so to everyone the images may not all be the same. When I interpret this poem I get a few different images that put everything together. Pictures of guns, men holding guns, shooting guns, being shot by guns, guns killing people, and shovels, burying dead men. A cycle that should not be around, a cycle nobody like to see, or even admit exists.
The poem is organized in three paragraphs, with short lines in each paragraph.
The poet decided to just do it normal, because in this poem it’s the words and pictures you see in your head not the structure of the poem. When read aloud the poem has steady rhythm. It flows well when read aloud. Sandberg gets into detail with many different things in the poem. The guns he talks about, steel, and how they are pointing from a war machine, the color of the soldiers what their wearing, he gets into details which makes the reader see the poem in his/her head easier. The words he uses to describe war are very effective, for example, guns, shovels, war machines etc.
In Sandberg’s “Iron” he is trying to get his point across about the war. He uses two tools to do this, and basically show the horrors of war. A gun and a shovel. Guns kill people, shovels burry people. In the war this was a reoccurring cycle you would use one tool and than have to use another. Some people weren’t all that lucky, if you can call it that, some only got to use one and then they were buried by the other. I think that is what the poet is trying to communicate to the reader. I thought this was a good poem and is very true. I also believe that this would have been easy to relate to if you were a soldier. Burying a friend is nothing easy, especially in times of war.
The Death-Bed
By: Siegfried Sassoon
1918
He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;
Aqueous like floating rays of amber light,
Soaring and quivering in the wings of sleep.
Silence and safety; and his mortal shore
Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death.
Someone was holding water to his mouth.
He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped
Through crimson gloom to darkness; and forgot
The opiate throb and ache that was his wound.
Water—calm, sliding green above the weir.
Water—a sky-lit alley for his boat,
Bird- voiced, and bordered with reflected flowers
And shaken hues of summer; drifting down,
He dipped contented oars, and sighed, and slept.
Night, with a gust of wind, was in the ward,
Blowing the curtain to a glimmering curve.
Night. He was blind; he could not see the stars
Glinting among the wraiths of wandering cloud;
Queer blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green,
Flickered and faded in his drowning eyes.
Rain—he could hear it rustling through the dark;
Fragrance and passionless music woven as one;
Warm rain on drooping roses; pattering showers
That soak the woods; not the harsh rain that sweeps
Behind the thunder, but a trickling peace,
Gently and slowly washing life away.
He stirred, shifting his body; then the pain
Leapt like a prowling beast, and gripped and tore
His groping dreams with grinding claws and fangs.
But someone was beside him; soon he lay
Shuddering because that evil thing had passed.
And death, who'd stepped toward him, paused and stared.
Light many lamps and gather round his bed.
Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live.
Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet.
He's young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?
But death replied: 'I choose him.' So he went,
And there was silence in the summer night;
Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep.
Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.
Response
The poem The Death-Bed written by Siegfried Sassoon is a dramatic monologue. This dramatic monologue describes the experience of a soldier living their last moments on a bed in a hospital room, and what kind of horrible pain they felt. Without the medical technology no matter what attempt that was made to save him they are unable to, as this was the case for many soldiers during the war.
Death is a theme that people are often reluctant to talk about, but when heading in to a war soldiers have to be ready to deal with this experience. The topic of death was not something those who went off to war experienced, many that went off to war have not experienced death, or were not ready to. No matter how much training and preparation took place the experience of new found friends being ripped up by enemy gun fire is something a training exercise can not replicate. Siegfried uses imagery used to give this experience to the reader, as a reader you are able to create a picture with the sensory Siegfried uses. Siegfried describes the pain the soldier comparing it as if he were attacked by a beast and torn up. “He stirred, shifting his body; then the pain Leapt like a prowling beast, and gripped and tore”
The structure of this poem is seven verses that lead the soldier to his death on the death-bed. The poem progresses in every verse as the soldier’s condition worsens and leads him closer to his death at the end.
The poem does not follow any certain type of rhythm (ex. abab or aabb) this helps add to the mood of the poem, by keeping the mood in a serious manor. When reading the poem aloud the reader is able to see what kind of situation the soldier is in, a Rhyme/ Rhythm would take away from the mood the poet is trying to set.
The choice of language that Siegfried uses in the poem helps the reader understand the atmosphere that the soldier is in, and also helps the reader relate with the pain the soldier is feeling. “Warm rain on drooping roses; pattering showers That soak the woods; not the harsh rain that sweeps Behind the thunder, but a trickling peace, Gently and slowly washing life away.” The way Siegfried uses language in this quotation is, it sounds like he is describing a terrible rain storm but he is using this storm as metaphor for what is happening on the battle field which he reveals in the last part of the quote.
The message that Siegfried is trying to send to the reader is that many men who when to war did not know what they were getting into, and it was not until they are on there death-bed they find out that the situation they are in is above there head. “He's young; he hated War; how should he die When cruel old campaigners win safe through?” This quotation shows the soldier’s feelings for the war and that he did not want to partake in it, this is how I think many men would of felt if the knew the beast they were being led toward. If I was in the situation that soldiers faced I would not want to go to war but I only know this because of the horrible experiences that these soldiers faced.
How to die
A poem by Siegfried Sassoon
Dark clouds are smouldering into red
While down the craters morning burns.
The dying soldier shifts his head
To watch the glory that returns:
He lifts his fingers toward the skies
Where holy brightness breaks in flame;
Radiance reflected in his eyes,
And on his lips a whispered name.
You'd think, to hear some people talk,
That lads go West with sobs and curses,
And sullen faces white as chalk,
Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses.
But they've been taught the way to do it
Like Christian soldiers; not with haste
And shuddering groans; but passing through it
With due regard for decent taste.
The title of the poem is “How to Die” by Siegfried Sassoon who was an English poet and an author, who had an anti-war point of view after WWI. This poem vividly portrays a solider meeting his end during the war. The poem gives the readers a tense yet gloomy feeling.
The poet tires to tell his readers about a solider who is dying, who is looking into the sunset right before his death. He is fully aware of his death, and probably will be treated as another corpse. He knows that his body would be buried in the mud like the previous bodies he has seen before. If he was lucky, his body would be discovered and possibly be buried without a name.
The poem captures a picture of a solider, meeting his death with bravery. The scene seems quiet yet powerful with strong messages. The first like of the poem, “Dark clouds are smouldering into red” (Sassoon), has to be my personal favourite line. I had to read it over it at least 10 times to fully understand what Sassoon was trying to say. It sounds as if the cloud seems to have a tint of red because of so much blood that has been shed by the soldiers. As the dying solider meets his end, he looks up for the glorious moment, but all he sees is a smoke shattering his glory. This is where he realizes that the war has been pointless and that there is no glory or fame that he was told to have. The five senses are: hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell. It seems like that the reader cannot hear anything. Its almost like a still-life without a sound, but can see the view clearly. Dead soldiers, with tears rolling down their cheeks, staring at the sky - unable to move. There is not any taste in the poem, but if I had to find one, it tastes of bitter blood and the ashes from the burns, and also smell the blood, and the dead body rotting away. Lastly, the readers can probably touch the heat from the burnings, and the dead soldiers or even the guns tightly held in their hands.
The poem is arranged in two parts/paragraphs, with eight lines each. It is not a very long poem, but each line requires the readers to stop and to think and feel the scenery. They are powerful and filled with deep meanings. In my personal experience, every time I read the poem, I came out with a different view of the poem. When I first read it, it almost sounded glorious by with the soldier watching the ＂glory that returns” (Sassoon). On the other hand, when I read it repeatedly, I realized the how horrific the war was and what the poet was trying to prove.
The poem rhymes with every other line. Some examples are: burns-returns, skies-eyes, flame-name, etc. When the poem is read first, it is harder for the readers to realize that the words actually rhyme, but the more the reader reads the poem, s/he will realizes that the rhyming words makes the poem easier the read. It is amazing how the poem has extremely deep meaning, yet Sassoon was able to rhyme the words to make it less harder for the readers. The poem has an intense meaning but can be read easily. Also, words such as “hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses” (Sassoon) adds dramatic feel to the poem. It portrays that the dead soldiers are craving a tomb named after them after their death. For a everyday commoners, we do not see how this can be a problem when a person dies. But as a solider, they are not even sure if their body can be discovered or will decay in the ground mixed with mud and rain. Their afterlife becomes questionable for the soldiers. Some symbolism the poem contains are when the solider points to the sky, meaning hope or heaven. But it is ironic that the hope has shattered by “breaks in flame” (Sassoon).
Lastly, the poet is trying the tell his readers of how worthless, and pointless the war has been. It killed numerous number of people, used billions of dollars, over exactly what? Or for who? It scarred men for life, and violated their dignity. It was an inhumane act. Although the usage of Sassoon’s language maybe questionable for some readers, overall, he still manages to send his message clearly. Although without the knowledge of WWI, the reader may question about the poem, but I believe they can still feel the moment the solider, as a single human being is going through. His pains and realizations of the war.
The Happy Warrior
His wild heart beats with painful sobs,
His strin'd hands clench an ice-cold rifle,
His aching jaws grip a hot parch'd tongue,
His wide eyes search unconsciously.
He cannot shriek.
Bloody saliva
Dribbles down his shapeless jacket.
I saw him stab
And stab again
A well-killed Boche.
This is the happy warrior,
This is he...
Herbert Read
Analysis
The title of this poem is “The Happy Warrior” written by Herbert Read who lived from 1893 to 1968. This poem seems to fall under the symbolic/imagist type of poetry. The subject of the poem is how Read would describe his so called “ Happy Warrior” and how this warrior would think and act. This poem also digs deeper into the mind of a soldier during the first World War.
This poem is an interesting poem in terms of the theme. I believe that the poem is about what young men turned into during World War I. The poem in some ways seems to be written out of anger. The poem also explains the characteristics these men developed while becoming a happy warrior. The characteristics that are described seem to tell the reader that the person who initially entered the war has turned into something that does not seem very human at all. What Read is describing in terms of how and what this warrior is feeling, if anything at all, can be compared to other situations in which a warrior is in a state of murderous frenzy.
There are many images that Read describes to the reader through his writing. The image which seems to have the most impact on the poem is obviously the stanza in which Read describes the warrior killing a Boche, without feeling and without mercy. Another image that is outlined is the description of the bloody saliva dribbling down the soldiers jacket. This image immediately lets the reader know that the warrior has no feeling as he does not acknowledge the fact that the saliva is running down his chin. These images clearly describe that the warrior has no feeling and that in any moment the soldier may breakout into a murderous rage. The five senses are used quite often in this poem to evoke many emotions in the reader. As mentioned before it is clear that the warrior has no internal feeling of mercy, remorse and at least at this point in time no regret. In the first part of the poem using more external senses Read describes what the warrior is holding. In this case the warrior is holding a rifle that is outlined to the reader as ice cold. It is also outlined that his heart is no longer beating lively as all hearts do but it is now beating in painful sobs, almost as though internally the warriors heart is deteriorating. Read is also defining what the warrior tastes, which is only his own hot tongue that is greatly in need of water. Read also depicts the sense of sight in that, the warrior is still somewhat conscious but his eyes are wide open searching unconsciously almost as though warrior has lost all feeling and control.
The poem does not seem to be following any sort of structure associated with certain types of poetry written throughout history. I believe that the poem is written in free form but organized into stanzas which provide the poem with at least a minimal amount of organization. Read himself has been categorized as an Imagist for his style of writing. The reason for this categorization is because Imagists traditionally use very hard and clear images to drive their point across. I believe that Read structured his poem in this way to prove his point and describe to the reader just what exactly his interpretation is of a happy warrior. He begins in the first line by describing to the reader certain types of characteristics of this warrior using the five senses. Next he describes what this warrior wants to do, but is incapable of, which in this case is shrieking. In the next line Read yet again uses one of the five senses, then in the next line describes the warrior stabbing a Boche and then describing the Boche as “well killed.” Finally he ends the poem saying that everything he has described so far is a happy warrior. I believe that Read structured his poem like this so that he could show the reader just what exactly a happy warrior is by first describing what the warrior feels and then telling the reader what the warrior is capable of when he is in this sort of mindset.
In this poem there is no use of rhyme. This is mainly because in this type of poem ,which is very serious and straightforward, there is no need. The only pattern or reoccurring tool which is used in this poem is that, at the beginning and end of the poem the writer uses the same letter to start off each sentence in the beginning and ending stanzas. I believe that the poet chose to write in this form mainly because Read’s main goal was to provide the reader with striking images and by doing it in the format he chose he did just that.
As mentioned previously Herbert Read was known as a Imagist when he wrote “ The Happy Warrior”. Read used tools such as common speech and freedom of subject matter to communicate and convey his message through his analysis of exactly what he portrayed a happy warrior would look, feel and act like. Read used easy to understand words so that his message could be understood throughout the masses and not only a select few. Read wanted to appeal to all readers of his poetry not only those that were able to understand and interpret selected types of poetry.
The poet is trying to describe to the reader what a happy warrior is in reality and the answer to that is that the warrior is not happy at all. The warrior has turned into something that is quite the opposite of what we would consider happy, the warrior has turned into something that does not possess any qualities that are remotely similar to anything that would be considered human. The devices that were used by Read, as mentioned before, were used so that his writings would appeal to mass audiences and were effective in expressing what Read wanted to say. Personally I thought that Read’s description of “The Happy Warrior” was an accurate one and it gave myself personally a very clear and concise image of what exactly a soldier becomes when he is consumed by war.
The Parable of The Old Man and The Young
By Wilfred Owen
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned, both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake, and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets the trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
Response
The title of the poem is “The Parable of The Old Man and The Young.” This poem is an iambic pentameter about a father and a son. The father is willing to sacrifice his son for a cause which is above what he can comprehend. This is shown when Abram is asked to kill his son Isaac and Abram, who is just blindly following his faith, does it even though he does not know why he is asked to kill his son.
In this poem the father, Abram, is tying his son, Isaac, with belts and straps. Abram built an embankment for protection from the enemies. Then Abram grabbed the knife he would slay his son Isaac with and just before he sacrificed his son an angel appeared and told him to stop and not to put a single hand on the child. The angel told Abram to sacrifice the “Ram of Pride” instead of his son but the old man didn’t listen and killed his son. This poem is based on a story in the Bible (Test of Abraham, Genesis 22), where God tests Abraham by telling him to kill his son and Abraham proved his faith by attempting to do so. However, in the Bible, an angel stopped him before he could slay his son and Abraham sacrificed a ram instead to God.
I believe that in this poem Abram symbolizes the European nations and Isaac symbolizes the boys that were sent to fight in the war. The European nations were so filled with pride that none of them could back down, inevitably causing a war. Also, Abram sacrificing Isaac is symbolic because it represents the European nations sacrificing the sons in their land; they didn’t need to but they did anyway.
The picture of Abram taking with him fire and a knife refers to Abram taking the greed of the nation with him and taking the knife to sacrifice the sons of the nations in order to obtain what he wants. A metaphor in this poem is Abram binding the youth with belts and straps. This could symbolize the European countries giving the boys of their nations the uniforms that they will be fighting in. The parapets the trenches here is talking about setting up a low protective wall to hide the soldiers from enemy fire. The five senses are not used; only the sense of sight.
The poem is fashioned into two verses. The first verse is the story based on Genesis 22 and the last two lines which compose the second verse is where the original story is changed. The poet decided to write his poem this way because the first verse is something that most people are familiar with and know the outcome. But by breaking the poem into two verses he is able to change the story in a way that comes as a surprise to most because it is unpredictable. The meaning and impact of this poem is emphasized because he throws the meaning in your face and you must now absorb it and take a second to understand.
The poem is not of rhyming nature. The main verse doesn’t rhyme however the last two lines rhyme in aabb to emphasize what happened and created a horrific overtone to the poem. The poet chose to write the poem like this because having only the last two lines rhyme not only emphasizes the point but also forces the reader to really remember them and realize the death count and horrific ordeals that occurred during this war. The first verse doesn’t rhyme in order to have the effect of the poet telling you a story that has relevance in the past and in the present and now in the future.
The language that the Wilfred Owen used is grim. This is because he is showing the reader that World War I was no game and was not easy. Many useless deaths occurred and the deaths of many took place because of greed. The “Ram of Pride” is used to symbolize that the European countries had a chance to kill pride but they chose wilful blindness and thought the sacrifice of many boys was the better answer to the problem; “But the old man would not so, but slew his son, And half the seed of Europe, one by one.”
The message that Wilfred Owen is trying to convey to the readers is that Abram, the European countries, was willing to sacrifice their children (Isaac, boys and young men of the country) to a war. The young men couldn’t comprehend nor fathom the war because they weren’t old enough. They just went along with it because of faith in their father; Abram. The devices used in the poem are effective because main points are amplified but the smaller points are still noticeable causing the overall message of children being sacrificed one by one to jump off the page and touch those who are willing to read and understand. My response to the poem is contempt for the European nations sacrificing the young boys and putting them through a horrific ordeal that inevitably caused the physical death or the death of the souls to those who survived; forever maimed.
Wilfred Owen
On Seeing a Piece of Our Heavy Artillery Brought into Action
Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great Gun towering towards Heaven, about to curse;
Sway steep against them, and for years rehearse
Huge imprecations like a blasting charm!
Reach at that Arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse.
Spend our resentment, cannon, -- yea, disburse
Our gold in shapes of flame, our breaths in storm.
Yet, for men's sakes whom thy vast malison
Must wither innocent of enmity,
Be not withdrawn, dark arm, thy spoilure done,
Safe to the bosom of our prosperity.
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!
The poem chosen is titled On Seeing a Piece of Our Heavy Artillery Brought into Action written by Wilfred Owen. The type of poem this selection is a sonnet. The poem is mainly about war and arms. The poem depicts scene of arms being raised high. The poem touches upon the bravery the men must have and how a solider must be able to kill. The selection states that safety is prosperity, and that this is where the soldier’s safety and end are found. At the end of the poem the author says that once the war and killing is said and done that he hopes that God will take out of him this killing soul.
In this poem the story being told is about one man’s perspective of seeing the war arms being taken into battle. One of the main themes in this poem is the idea of curse. The author using many different synonyms for the word curse a well, such as malison and imprecations. At end of the first paragraph the poem talks about how a solider needs arrogance to harm those whom are their enemies. The lines are about how the solider must use his anger I order to destroy the enemy. The solider must have these feeling so he is able to kill. I think the poem is mainly about the power of guns and the power of war. The author depicts guns as a symbol of a destruction and evil. Also the author describes the gun as a ‘long black arm’. At the end of the of the poem the fourth last line the author is describing how a solider must never put down his gun in order to achieve victory, and the soldier must never leave his guard while in war. The poet really describes war as being final and destructive. And the very last two lines of the poem I believe is saying that when the war is over he is asking God to take this killing nature from his soul. Though this is never really lost.
In this poem there are many images used. In the poem black arms are used as a symbol for guns. Also in the poem the first two lines use images of pointing the guns toward heaven as a symbol of soldiers raising arms. Throughout the poem the author chooses to use words such as heaven, sin, spell, he does this because these words evoke strong emotions in the reader. By using such precious words the lines have a more powerful meaning to the audience. The author also using words of emotion in the poem that in turn would evoke that emotion in the reader such as arrogance, resentment, and enmity. Throughout the poem some feeling evoked is passion, anger, destruction and hope.
The poem is organized into two verses. The poet decided to structure the ideas into long lines. He spilt his ideas into two lines usually; a comma divides each idea as well. The structure of the poem makes the reader really comprehend each line and each word because each lines has many important aspects contained in it.
This poem does rhyme at the end of each line. The pattern seems to be abbaabb. The rhythm when the poem is read out loud makes the audience stress the last word of each line. The poem really flows smoothly when read out loud.
The poet uses some literary devices in this poem such as personification. The poet gives guns human qualities by calling guns arms’, as well the poet depicts prosperity as having a bosom. There is also onomatopoeia present when the author says ‘blasting’. The poet using very proper English, by using words such as ‘thee’ and ‘thy’.
The poet is trying to communicate his view on war and his beliefs on how a soldier is to act when in war. The poet is depicting the atmosphere or war and the anger and passion needed in order to engage in warfare. The poem does not make war appear to be anything that it is not. The author describes war as brutal, final and destructive. I think throughout the poem the author is being very honest with the reader and to himself by accurately describing war. The author at the end of the poem then expresses remorse I believe. At the end he asks God to take this entire killer instinct out of his soul that for what the author had previously said was so important when immersed in war. This poem is clearing describes how a solider was expected to think and act in a dominate killing machine manner. The poet then at the end of the poem is then showing the reader some true feeing of soldiers. This part in the poem helps the reader see the author as a human and not as a cold solider. The language of the poem really assists the reader when trying to understand the complex feeling of a solider in war, and helps the reader attempt empathize with the soldier and better connect to the poet and his poems.
I really enjoyed this poem because the poem was extremely complex and integrate. When the reader first looks over the poem for the first time many small aspects of the poem are overlooked. The last two lines in the poem interested me the most. I first thought that the poem was simply just a poem describing war, although upon further examination I was able to see the very emotionally features throughout the sonnet. This sonnet is attempting to evoke a plethora of emotion in its reader. The poet is trying to make the reader feel many contrasting emotion in a short amount of time, as the soldier would have once he was immersed into the cruelty of battle. I also enjoyed the reality in which the author dictates his experiences. He calls war a curse and does not try and make war something that it is not; he does not make any false accounts to war. He tells the reader exactly what is real and what war is. There is nothing honourable about war and war should not be glorified.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae May 3rd, 1915
Response
The poem “In Flanders Fields” was written by John McCrae’s and is the most memorable war poem known today. This is a limerick poem commemorates the deaths of thousands of young men who died in Flanders during the battles there.
When reading this poem you are able to picture the poppies blowing in the wind between the crosses which represent a tombstone for those who have paste away in the war. Thousands upon thousands crosses lined up in the ground with red poppies growing all around the open field. The sense of seeing is used through out the poem because John McCrae’s poem is a description of something so you’re able to view an image in your head.
“In Flanders Field” is a three verse poem with a limerick structure. John McCrae structured his poem in three verses because of the way he is expressing his thoughts about the field that is in front of him. He is expressing his feelings about the life of a soldier at war.
The poem has rhyming patterns that a limerick poem has. The pattern of a this poem goes aa-bb-a, the first two lines rhyme with each other and line 3 and 4 rhyme together leaving the last line in the verse rhyming with lines 1 and 2. When reading aloud the poem flows from verse to verse, making it a comfortable and enjoyable read to the readers.
The language pattern of this poem show no word choices of sound but words that make you feel and picture the scenery that is around John while he is writing this poem. The symbolism used through out the poem represents the life of all those who have died in battle for their country. When McCrae talks about the torch it symbolises that those who have died, did not get a change to finish their duty and the duty is passed down to the next group of men who come to fight for their country.
The poet is trying to communicate to the readers that those crosses represent the lives and hearts of those soldiers who went out and stood there for their country’s name. They were the individuals who did everything in there power for their country and now they lay there, in Flanders Fields. I believe this poem is well written; it describes the scene very simply but makes a big picture to the reader of how war can be like…we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved and now we lie.
How Sleep The Brave (1916) by Walter de la mare
Nay, nay, sweet England, do not grieve!
Not one of those poor men who died
But did within his soul believe
That death for thee was glorified.
Ever they watched it hovering near
That mystery ‘yond thought to plumb,
Perchance sometimes in loathed fear
They heard cold danger whisper, come!
Heard and obeyed. O, if thou weep
Such courage and honour, beauty, care,
Be it for joy that those who sleep
Only thy joy could share.
How Sleep The Brave is an odic poem written by Walter de la Mare during the First World War. This poem in particular is one of the series patriotic poems written by him. He was a poet, author, editor, and critic, and was famed for supernatural collections such as, Connoisseur, On The Edge, The Riddle, and the novel The Return. He was born on the 25 April 1873 in Charlton, Kent and died on the 22 June 1956 in Twickenham, London, and was laid to rest in St. Paul’s Cathedral. This poem can be considered as an ode because it is a lyric poem expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion. In other words, it is one of those poems devoted to the praise of a person, thing, or animal; written in an elevated style and often expresses deep feeling. In the case of this poem, praise is being given to the brave soldiers. This poem speaks about brave soldiers who risked their lives for the good of their country, and that their fellow countrymen should not be sorrowful, but joyful in the victory that those brave soldiers gave to them.
As stated before, this poem is one of the series of patriotic poems written by Walter de la Mare. Patriotism can be considered as a theme because it speaks about brave men who left their families, friends, and home to defend their country in a “do or die” situation such as war. They can be considered patriots because they were willing to fight for and defend their country. For example, in the 4th and 5th lines it states that: “…within his soul believe that death for thee was glorified”. Additionally, courage and loyalty are themes worthy to be considered. These ordinary men living their simple lives, can be considered courageous because they entered into a war knowing the great possibility of death to defend their country, their identity, and for what they believed in. They can be considered loyal because they were devoted to defending and serving their country. For instance, in the 8th and 9th lines it states that: “they heard cold danger whisper, come! Heard and obeyed”. Lastly, tragedy is exemplified, in which, these men died for what they believed in: freedom and prosperity.
Furthermore, imagery is used to express the themes in the poem. For example, “ever they watched it hovering near”, 5th line. The writer uses this to emphasize that in the event of death and danger, these courageous and patriotic men, though at times afraid, were not deterred from carrying out their quest. It also shows the horrific realities of war and its ultimate consequence of death. Moreover, metaphor and personification is used. For instance, “ever they watched it hovering near”, 5th line and “they heard cold danger whisper, come”! The writer uses these devices to emphasize his point and evoke feeling into the reader in order for the reader to have an understanding of how courageous and loyal these men were. In addition, the writer uses certain emotive languages to appeal to our senses. For example, “not one of those poor men who died…” This is done to evoke in us a feeling of compassion and honour for these ordinary men who had a life of their own but chose to give it up to defend the rights of their country. It makes us understand and appreciate the lives of heroes such as these. Furthermore, the writer uses senses to evoke reactions in the reader. For instance, in the 5th line, “ever they watched it hovering near”, signifies the presence of danger and death, and the 9th line, “heard and obeyed”, which denotes bravery.
Moving along, if you look closely at the poem is structured in a pattern. It consists of 12 lines in total, with three stanzas containing four lines each. It is also arranged in block format. First of all, the writer has used four lines per stanza to maintain potency. This allows the writer to bring across his message more effectively. Secondly, this is used as a transition period from comfort, to death and from death to honour and joy. The writer does this to so that the reader to feel rejoiced and glorified in what their fellow countrymen did. Also, to allow the reader to understand and appreciate the bravery and love that these men had for their country and that their death was not in vain. This is showed in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stanza respectively. Moreover, brilliant sequencing of ideas further backs this up. For example, grieve in the first line is comforted with believe in the third line, and died in the second line is comforted with glorified in the fourth. This is done to remind the reader of the courageous and honourable work these men have done and not be saddened but rather joyful and give honour. This continues in the second stanza, where “fear in the seventh line is used with “near” in the 5th line. This is done to show the close presence of danger and death and how they were sometimes fearful. However, the poet switches by treating danger – an inanimate object, as a person, line 8, by using “plumb” with “come” so that the reader understands that even though death and danger approaches with a call, they were not deterred, but rather obeyed. This sequencing continues in the last stanza as “weep” is used with “sleep” and “care” is used with the word “share”.
Also, this can be considered as the rhyme and rhythm of the poem in which the writer rhymes words with one another, such as “died” and “glorified” in the first stanza in which, glorified is used to exalt the death of the brave men, and “weep” and “sleep” in the last stanza conveys that weep should be done in a joyful manner with is used to exalt or give honour to the dead. Important to note as well, the ending of these rhymed words end with the same words, which give the poem a tone and allow it to flow. As a result, a rhythm is developed which gives a merry and honourable tone to the poem when read aloud. This allows the reader to sing or say the poem with honour and pride. Additionally, based on the structure and rhythm of the poem; it can be sung.
To add, the writer uses specific words to bring about a desired effect on the reader. Words such as believe, glorified, hovering, whisper, heard and obeyed, all points to the fact that these men are heroes, courageous and loyal, whose death should be glorified and honoured, not to be grieved nor mourned. Moreover, the poet uses devices such as personification and symbolism, which is evident in lines 8 and 5 respectively. The use of personification in line 5 emphasizes the point of bravery and courage that these men displayed in the presence of danger and death, where as “hovering” is used as a symbol to point out the presence of death, which is organized in such a way that allows the poem to flow with conviction and potency.
To conclude, I cannot end without commenting on the poem’s title: “How Sleep The Brave”, the meaning of it, about what the writer is referring to. The title: “How Sleep The Brave”, denotes that these brave men can sleep and rest peacefully and contently knowing that their death was glorified, honoured, and valued. The poem itself gives gratitude, honour and praise to the brave soldiers. Brave in that, despite being confronted by death, though at times loathed with fear, were not deterred, but rather obeyed and marched on to die an honourable death: a death for their country, their fellow country men; for their beliefs; for their identity; and their well – being. Interestingly also, this poem can be sung. It can be sung as a song, which, for these poor men, honour, courage, and loyalty exalts. This, along with the effectiveness and brilliant use of the devices, makes the poem such a wonderful and potent one, where courage, glory, and patriotism manifest.
A Working Party
Three hours ago he blundered up the trench,
Sliding and poising, groping with his boots;
Sometimes he tripped and lurched against the walls
With hands that pawed the sodden bags of chalk.
He couldn't see the man who walked in front;
Only he heard the drum and rattle of feet
Stepping along barred trench boards, often splashing
Wretchedly where the sludge was ankle-deep.
Voices would grunt `Keep to your right - make way!'
When squeezing past some men from the front-line:
White faces peered, puffing a point of red;
Candles and braziers glinted through the chinks
And curtain-flaps of dug-outs; then the gloom
Swallowed his sense of sight; he stooped and swore
Because a sagging wire had caught his neck.
A flare went up; the shining whiteness spread
And flickered upward, showing nimble rats
And mounds of glimmering sand-bags, bleached with rain;
Then the slow silver moment died in dark.
The wind came posting by with chilly gusts
And buffeting at the corners, piping thin.
And dreary through the crannies; rifle-shots
Would split and crack and sing along the night,
And shells came calmly through the drizzling air
To burst with hollow bang below the hill.
Three hours ago, he stumbled up the trench;
Now he will never walk that road again:
He must be carried back, a jolting lump
Beyond all needs of tenderness and care.
He was a young man with a meagre wife
And two small children in a Midland town,
He showed their photographs to all his mates,
And they considered him a decent chap
Who did his work and hadn't much to say,
And always laughed at other people's jokes
Because he hadn't any of his own.
That night when he was busy at his job
Of piling bags along the parapet,
He thought how slow time went, stamping his feet
And blowing on his fingers, pinched with cold.
He thought of getting back by half-past twelve,
And tot of rum to send him warm to sleep
In draughty dug-out frowsty with the fumes
Of coke, and full of snoring weary men.
He pushed another bag along the top,
Craning his body outward; then a flare
Gave one white glimpse of No Man's Land and wire;
And as he dropped his head the instant split
His startled life with lead, and all went out
Response
The title of the poem I have chosen is “A Working Party” by Siegfried Sassoon. The type of poem is a dramatic monologue. The poem describes the life of a warrior in the trenches as there is battle.
This poem allows us a very brief insight into the life of a soldier at war. Displayed in the poem are the violence and the reality of life at war. I believe the poem attempts to display the reality of the war, the reality of the life of any soldier in the war.
Sassoon painted his images within the poem by giving us, the readers deeply descriptive settings such as “wretchedly where the sludge was ankle-deep” allowing us to use our imagination to be able to see the situation in which the soldiers were placed. The author also illustrated the fact that this soldier could have been anyone that he just like most soldiers had left his family to fight in the war, and that he too was friendly and liked by people around him, his story was generic, and just like that his life was ended. The author did this to evoke the feeling of empathy towards this soldier, we see that he had left his family behind to fight in the war and ends up dying for his country but leaving his family behind. This portrays to us what was so common during the War, the thousands of causalities having their lives taken from them in an instant.
“A Working Party” is organized into lines. I believe Sassoon structure his poem in this fashion because he is describing a scene in a soldier’s life while there is battle happening around him. He uses simple, short sentences to cause us to see how fast-paced it really was. It allowed us to almost step into the shoes of a soldier and experience the split second decisions that had to be made to save your life during war.
This poem does not rhyme, but the rhythm of the poem is a very quick paced about ten syllables per each line. The rhythm is used to try and catch the reader the pace is very quick and scares or excites the reader into interest.
Siegfried Sassoon uses his very descriptive vocabulary all throughout his poem. His choice of words allows us to go venture more deeply into the poem. It gives us the extra step in attempting to put ourselves in the soldier’s shoes. The descriptive settings and vivid descriptions of the battle that surround the soldier affect the reader subconsciously. As we are reading the poem we cannot help but to visualize the situation of the trenches, and hear the sounds of death that surround our soldier.
The poem is trying to communicate to the reader the uncertainty and danger of a soldier’s life at war. He writes describing the filthy and treacherous state which the soldiers are forced to live and fight in. Sassoon implies to us that these soldiers were fighting to keep alive, not knowing when they would be predisposed into another casualty statistic. Unlike the country’s that sent these men out to fight their war, Sassoon tells the story as it is. There is no propaganda in the way that he depicts war. He lets us know that there is no glory to war.
Smile, Smile, Smile
Head to limp head, the sunk-eyed wounded scanned
Yesterday's Mail; the casualties (typed small)
And (large) Vast Booty from our Latest Haul.
Also, they read of Cheap Homes, not yet planned,
'For', said the paper, 'when this war is done (5)
The men's first instincts will be making homes.
Meanwhile their foremost need is aerodromes,
It being certain war has but begun.
Peace would do wrong to our undying dead, –
The sons we offered might regret they died (10)
If we got nothing lasting in their stead.
We must be solidly indemnified.
Though all be worthy Victory which all bought,
We rulers sitting in this ancient spot
Would wrong our very selves if we forgot (15)
The greatest glory will be theirs who fought,
Who kept this nation in integrity.'
Nation? – The half-limbed readers did not chafe
But smiled at one another curiously
Like secret men who know their secret safe. (20)
(This is the thing they know and never speak,
That England one by one had fled to France,
Not many elsewhere now, save under France.)
Pictures of these broad smiles appear each week,
And people in whose voice real feeling rings (25)
Say: How they smile! They're happy now, poor things.
Wilfred Owen
Response
The poem "smile, smile, smile" is a verse written by Wilfred Owen. The poem is about the soldiers who are reading a paper that knows nothing about what they are going through. Furthermore, it gives the reactions of the soldiers based upon the sensationalized and biased reading that is being given to them. It speaks of how things are much better than they actually are and how the soldiers are doing just “fine”.
There are many points in the poem that give the reader a sense as to what it is about. The first lines give a sense of death, but no sadness. It makes the reader feel as though the death was a necessary cost to the progression of the world that is not directly in the war. This same idea is carried through the poem giving the sense that this war is not something that should be abhorred, but rather embraced due to the great expansion of wealth among the business owners. Likewise, it plays on how blissfully ignorant man can be when he chooses not to know anything.
The pictures conveyed in the poem are of death and dismemberment. It uses these to bring a grim reality to the situation at hand as well as give a commentary on how many upper-class people not affected by the war acted. It gives the reader a sense of disgust at the contrasting ideas and ideologies followed by men of the same country.
The poem does not have any special structure for its organization, although there are clear points within the poem that dictate a “break” or a change of pace for the reader. These breaks help to communicate a changing of tone in the poem. The poet structured it this way because, as I see it, it is much easier to relate to for the reader whom he is trying to reach.
The rhyming pattern in the poem is abba through the first 8 lines; it then changes to abab through lines 9-12; lines 13-16 are aaaa; lines 18-24 go back to abab, and the final 2 lines are rhymed. The poem itself is difficult to read aloud because of the changing rhythms and different rhyming styles. I think the poet has chosen to write the piece this way because it may be a portrayal of the mixed feeling that the soldiers would have when reading the paper.
The poet uses symbolism in the form of dying or injured men to convey his message. The men that he writes about are a parallel to the type of contrasted world that the war brought about.
The overall message that the poet is trying to convey is that the war effort was not being seen as what it really should have been. All the accomplishments were sensationalized, while the casualties became a footnote. The soldiers became pawns and were not appreciated as lives, but rather a means to an end. Furthermore, the author writes how people don’t want to really “see” the war, they would much rather let the people remain faceless so they don’t have to feel emotion for something that they usually just attribute a number to.
Base Details
If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath
I’d live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
and speed glum heroes up the line to death.
You’d see me with my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honour. “Poor young chap,”
I’d say—“I used to know his father well;
Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.”
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I’d toddle safely home and die—in bed.
Siegfried Sassoon, written March 1917
Response
The poem I chose to write about is titled “Base details”, a sonnet written by Siegfried Sassoon in March of 1917. This 10 line poem shows the disdain that Sassoon, an officer of the Great War himself, had for the leaders during this time. This poem is different from other World War 1 poetry because it shows anger towards the leaders instead of showing patriotism for a country. It also focuses on the lives of those who did not risk their lives rather than the soldiers who did.
A common theme found in World War 1 poetry is obviously death and while “Base Details” mentions death, “Speed glum heroes up the line to death”, the main theme is cowardice. Sassoon speaks of Majors who stay behind safe barriers while sending out soldiers to die. He speaks of ‘leaders’ who are cowards, who never actually risk their lives and therefore never actually experience the Great War. The poem is about Majors of World War 1 who experienced luxuries during a time of war and could never understand the horrors of front line battle because they would be “Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel”. Majors who only knew of death through the names they read off the Roll of Honour. The luxuries would not just be the protection they had, being away from the battle fields, but also the way they would die- in bed, or away from war, peacefully. The soldiers of World War 1 would be slaughtered in a number of different ways, blown up, run over or shot down by strangers. But those who were not directly fighting would be able to die in peace in their own homes; they would not have to worry about anyone hunting them down trying to kill them. The “Majors” Sassoon describes could have been anyone not fighting for, or supporting their country in the time of war, an example being ‘deserters’.
This short poem can spark many ideas and pictures into the readers’ head, first of the Majors, old, large, red men, Professor Plum- looking characters drunken and clumsily stumbling about. Secondly, “glum heroes up the line to death” produces a grey image of young soldiers grudgingly walking into battlefields, towards death, which you can easily picture when reading one of the last lines, “youth stone dead”. That line also generates a dark picture, of young boys lying dead in fields with expressionless faces. The poem strikes you with these images in one quick stanza, giving the reader no time to stop and that may be the reason Sassoon groups these thoughts together. The poem tells a short story and I think it is meant to be a quick story to keep the readers’ attention. Perhaps this is also why Sassoon has created the poem with short sentences and a, b, a, b rhyming scheme, to keep the pace quick.
When read aloud, the poem is, as I said before, quick which creates a some what light hearted vibe, I think Sassoon did this because he is taking on a role of a Major that he basically makes fun of and while all this anger towards the Majors is clearly evident, you can hear Sassoon’s sarcastic voice. The words that he uses makes the reader angry with the Majors that Sassoon has created for us, this line, “Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap” makes it so that the Majors are ignorant about the seriousness of the battles in the war by calling it a “scrap”
I think that Sassoon was successful in writing this short poem about a soldier being the only person able to understand and experience the horror of war. I’ve thought about the people that lead us into war, like presidents and other world leaders and how they feel about wars. Whenever I hear President George W Bush talk about the war, it seems so phoney because he isn’t actually fighting for his life and he doesn’t know what it’s like. The message is clear when reading this poem because even with the time difference, this idea still applies, that our leaders are sending “glum heroes up the line to death”.
Disabled
By Wilfred Owen
He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark, (1)
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.
About this time Town used to swing so gay (7)
When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,
— In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,
All of them touch him like some queer disease.
There was an artist silly for his face, (14)
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now he is old; his back will never brace;
He's lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.
One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg,
After the matches carried shoulder-high.
It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
He thought he'd better join. He wonders why . . .
Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.
That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg, (26)
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.
Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.
Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal. (36)
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.
Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
To-night he noticed how the women's eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
And put him into bed? Why don't they come?
Analysis
Acclaimed as one of the greatest war poets in the English language, Wilfred Owen’s raw inspiration came from his intense confrontation with World War I as a soldier. Originally he aspired to live the life of a poet, but eventually became greatly influenced by the propaganda of the war effort. Surrounded by a feeling of guilt that he was not contributing to the effort, Owen volunteered to join the army. His poem “Disabled” is of rhyming verse and illustrates Owen’s personal experience with World War I and exemplifies his expectations of the “war to end all wars”. The poem is basically a story of a young man who enrolls in the army with mistaken assumptions that the war will return him home a respected and honoured soldier worth celebrating. The war, in fact, leaves him a man whom is emotionally and physically destroyed. The poem in essence recounts the story of a million boys shattered by World War I.
Reading the poem, there are a variety of themes to be explored. One theme that Owen often refers to is the man’s longings towards women. There is a greater theme that encompasses the man’s loss, but most of this loss is associated with women. Whether the poem exhibits the attributes of women, the need to satisfy them, or the desire to receive a quick glance from them, it leads the reader to believe that the man hungers for these things. Further “Disabled” entails the man’s regret in the entirety of the war effort and again, reflects this through his loss. There is also a prevailing theme of hopefulness versus hopelessness or in other words his reality. The poem moves back and forth from the man’s past prospects of the outcome of war to the present’s lingering aura of misery.
Owen’s “Disabled” introduces the poem with a picture. The reader can imagine the exact description of the man, shivering as he sits in his wheel chair, as it is plainly stated. In addition to this image, the scenery is “dark” (l.1) and gives the reader an overall sense of loneliness and loss. To acknowledge that the man’s arms are missing, Owen depicts the man as being “sewn short at elbow” (l.3), giving the reader a medical view to assess the man physically, expressing the discomfort and real despair of such an injury. In line 4, a simile comparing the “Voices of boys rang [as being] saddening like a hymn”. A hymn is meant to be a song of praise and this comparison enables the reader comprehend how this joyous, playful sound is actually painful for the man. The end of the first stanza also portrays a personification of sleep to a motherly quality. In this line, sleep is a sweet escape for the boys, but acts as a rescue for the man in order to free him from their presence. It is at this point, that I, as a reader felt that the man in the poem wished that sleep could also mother him from his suffering. I can almost feel jealousy from the man towards the innocent boys.
In the second stanza the senses of sight, sound, and touch are evoked in a contrasting light to the first stanza, as the Town of the man’s pre-war life is defined by Owen. The Town is alive in a lighthearted atmosphere, apparent through the action of “swing[ing] so gay[ly]” (l.7) and “glow-lamps budd[ing] in the light-blue trees” (l.8). The cheerful movement and vibrant colours cause the reader’s spirit to uplift. This is the scene for the man’s past triumphs. His earlier happiness is further expressed through his yearning to feel “how slim girls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands” (l.11, 12) implying that the man was once capable of these actions. The reader continues to empathize with the man as another loss is revealed. The use of images to evoke the readers’ senses is a necessity for Owen to relay the personal experiences of the man. These images are imperative in the transition from past to present circumstances. In Owen’s “Disabled” the images are able to set the mood for the reader, preparing a canvas for the use of other poetic devices that will further the theme of the poem.
Owen’s “Disabled” is arranged in a stanza structure. Each stanza consists of between six to twelve lines, and all lines are approximately similar lengths. The poem is patterned in such a way that the reason for breaking each stanza is a change of thought or view point. There is a separate focus in each stanza, much like a typical paragraph found in formal literature. The stanzas allow the reader to easily distinguish one approach to another. Clearly, stanza three and four each present diverging ideas on an identical subject. Stanza three conveys the man’s brutal physical result due to the unforgiving nature of war. Through vivid imagery, the theme of loss is highlighted accompanied by a terminal line questioning the reason for wasting his life in battle. Stanza four completes the thought instead, relying on the man’s innocent and encouraged anticipation to march into war. All contemplations in this stanza encircle the idea of gaining as opposed to losing. There were no consequences and “no fears” (l.30) to join the army only rewards including “pleas[ing] his Meg” (l.26). This poetic form is very constructive in that the reader is always alert for a shift in perspective.
Owen uses one-syllable rhyme in “Disabled” which occurs on the final stressed syllable of the words. Besides this concept, Owen displays terminal rhyme where all rhymes occur at the line ends, a standard procedure. Each stanza has at least two recurring terminal rhymes that interchange through every other line, characteristic to the abab rhyming scheme. Certain stanzas use a specific terminal rhyme more than twice, continuing the rhyme rather than developing new ones. Further, there are sites in the poem where terminal rhymes of a previous stanza are persistent into the proceeding stanza. In stanza three, the final terminal rhyme is found in “kilts” with no complimenting line to complete the abab structure. Thus, Owen uses stanza four to contain the absent rhymes found in line 27 and 31, “jilts” and “hilts” respectively. This concept keeps a consistent fluidity for the reader to follow and also symbolizes the manner in which each stanza’s ideas literally lead into the next. Also notable, is the detail that Owen tends to split his thoughts into divided lines in order to achieve the rhyming abab pattern. This forces the reader to read the poem with care. The poem must read continuously, taking caution not to break the ideas whenever there is a changeover in line or stanza. As rhyming is a dominant poetic device in Owen’s “Disabled”, it provokes the reader to carry on reading the poem without hesitation. When the poem’s notion of rhyming is established the reader becomes enticed to retrieve the following rhyme. It is a clever device to encourage the reader forward into the depth of the poem.
A characteristic of poetry found in “Disabled” is Owen’s use of alliteration in line five between “play and pleasure”, line nine with “girls glanced”, as well as in line thirty five with “drafted…drums”. This repetition of initial consonants in these lines helps the reader to remember the phrase which contained the alliteration. Alliteration in this poem links the two components together, giving more emphasis to what was being expressed. Traces of assonance can also be collected throughout Owen’s “Disabled” as examples are found in line nineteen between “half…lapsed”, in line 28 with “asked… have”, and finally in line twenty nine involving “Smiling…lie”. In this poem, these samples of assonance deliver a particular message of contrast. In the second case the full line is “He asked to join He didn’t have to beg;”(l.28) and the assonance articulates how opposite the two ideas are. Asking is due to self yearning while having to do something is a demand. This line is significant in its intent to demonstrate to the reader how tragic this man’s circumstance is. Assonance augments the attention of the reader to remember this line. Idioms are commonly used in “Disabled” in lines twenty five and twenty seven both conveying references to Scottish entities i.e. “kilts” and “giddy jilts”. These familiar Scottish terms strengthen the personal relation of the reader to the man in the story and allows for an opportunity to realize what the man represents.
In conclusion, I find that Owen is successful in applying poetic devices in “Disabled” in order to communicate his point. As you work through the poem you learn more about the tragedy of the man’s life. I conceive that the man is feeling immense regret and is a victim to a great injustice. In line ten “before he threw away his knees”, it is clear that the man feels that he lost for no valid reason. When Owen goes on to detail the development of the man into a soldier, he reveals that the man is only nineteen and this stimulates me to sympathize with the man. The event of going to war seemed an obligation to the man as “he thought he’d better join” (l.24) and further, he was roused by war’s reputation as “he’d look a god in kilts” (l.25). The man had no preparation for what was to become of the war. But it is the final consequence of going to war that truly moves me. The man was previously a glorified athlete and it is tremendously unfortunate to find that after he has suffered so profusely the only attention he receives is from a “solemn man who brought him fruits” (l.37) in the humblest manner. It is ironic that once the man has become a whole man he is treated as much less. It is with terrible circumstance that when he at last deserves the recognition of “los[ing] his colour” (l.17), much more worthy than his exalted football star successes, he is instead left to desolately ask “Why don’t they come?”(l.45)
“Before Action”
By all the glories of the day
And the cool evening's benison,
By that last sunset touch that lay
Upon the hills where day was done,
By beauty lavishly outpoured
And blessings carelessly received,
By all the days that I have lived
Make me a solider, Lord.
By all of man's hopes and fears,
And all the wonders poets sing,
The laughter of unclouded years,
And every sad and lovely thing;
By the romantic ages stored
With high endeavor that was his,
By all his mad catastrophes
Make me a man, O Lord.
I, that on my familiar hill
Saw with uncomprehending eyes
A hundred of Thy sunsets spill
Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice,
Ere the sun swings his noonday sword
Must say goodbye to all of this;--
By all delights that I shall miss,
Help me to die, O Lord.
-W.N. Hodgson (1893-1916)
Response
William Noel Hodgson was an English poet of the British Army. As a man recognized for his stories written throughout the Great War, he was also endeared for his well written poems. With World War One poems being so crucial for exposing the reality of the Great War, W.N. Hodgson had done so in his poem titled “Before Action”. W.N. Hodgson intends to write this poem in ballad format. Furthermore, Hodgson also writes this poem as though he is praying to God. With this in mind, it appears as though he prays to God to prepare him for the horrors that he is about to face. That is, the gory reality of war. Within “Before Action”, he illustrates his joyous and care free life before the war. The poem also implies his high appreciation for his life previous to war. He also implies that his previous experiences of happiness and joy has not prepared him for the horrors that he is about to face. Hodgson shows that he is not ready and is afraid to face his death, knowing that the reality of the war was that there were very little or no survivors for the many that have plunged into action. Thus, he prays to God that he will be able to face this reality with a fearless heart. By the last lines, he acknowledges the truth- that he is to be forever changed by this war and no matter what, his fate will be tragic.
The predominant themes of this poem consist of acceptance, truth and a happy life verses the disturbing reality of war. First, the theme acceptance is mirrored towards the end of the poem. The acceptation that he could possibly or will die, the acceptation that he may no longer experience “the delights” and the acceptation that he is not ready for this so therefore he must prepare. Moreover, another theme is the theme of truth. As the last line says, “help me to die, O Lord”, this bluntly expresses the truth and reality of war. That is, as countless men dying in action, there is a far greater chance of Hodgson facing death than actually surviving the war. As well, the theme a happy life verses the disturbing reality of war is displayed throughout the poem.
W.N. Hodgson incorporates an abundance of imagery within “Before Action”. Hodgson, initially begins the poem with a sense of positive imagery. “By the glories of the day…By beauty lavishly outpoured And the Blessings carelessly received”, describes Hodgson’s reminiscence on joyous memories. He creates a positive atmosphere through illustrating all of his delightful thoughts that people may encounter and fail to appreciate on daily basis. Simple thoughts of beauty, laughter and romance are all positive images Hodgson illuminates. Hodgson suddenly shifts to creating a horrific atmosphere. The concept of “sunsets spill” arouses the image of bloodshed and massive massacre. Also the lines, “Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice, Ere the sun swings his noonday sword”, stirs fear and constant bloodshed. The word “fresh” implies that there is always recent bloodshed and “sanguine” meaning a red complexion illustrates fatal wounds of those who fought. Hodgson fails to use the five senses to evoke certain reactions in the reader, however applies a high degree of visual imagery to stir the readers emotions.
Hodgson structures this poem to follow a pattern. The pattern in which being, with every other line starting with “By…” , as though he is making a toast because he feels that his life is coming to an end. The “By..” statements are used when Hodgson lists all of the positive aspects of life, however breaks this pattern towards the end as he describes the gory reality of war. This is done so that the reader may grasp the reality of war and how it contrasts with all of the blissful aspects of life.
The use of rhyme is infrequently used within the poem. As this device is sparsely used within the poem, it is mostly used within the piece that describes Hodgson’s most cherished moments, which was life without the war. For example, he rhymes day with lay and fears with years, which means that he wanted to rhyme to the joyous part of the poem to generate a warm feeling. Rhythm is created through the use of repetition. He merely begins lines with similar words such as “By..” or “And” and arranges each almost every line with the same amounts of syllables (8 syllables). However, the lines that do not consist of eight syllables is when the soldier asks for Gods help. As a result of creating rhythm in this sense, Hodgson exaggerates his need for hope in a time of war and perpetual massacre. Therefore, capturing Hodgson’s prayer in a time of great need.
The predominant literary device that occurs is imagery. In addition, there is also a moderate use of personification and symbolism. As mentioned, Hodgson aims for the reader to see the contrasts between a peaceful life and a life in warfare. Personification is used towards the end when it says “A hundred of Thy sunsets spill Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice, Ere the sun swings his noonday sword”. This creates almost an image of a death- a person to be executed. The desirable effect is to create feelings of pity. Furthermore, a reoccurring symbol is the hill that is mentioned twice. The hill symbolizes what the soldier’s perspective on life. To clarify, the imagery that immediately comes to mind upon a hill being mentioned, is the viewer who stands upon the hill’s broad view of what is below. That is, as the soldier stands on the hill he is able to see the slaughter that happens below. The hill is mentioned in the beginning, “upon the hills where day was done”, where he was not yet seen the reality of war and “day was done” meaning he could live another day. However, the hill is mentioned again “…that familiar hill”, where he has seen bloodshed and symbolizing that his perspective on life has changed forever. Imagery, personification and symbolism were all used to further express the meaning of the poem, to intrigue to the reader, to involve the senses and emotion.
“Before Action” exemplifies the concept that soldiers during the Great War had to endure the ultimate struggle which was to survive something as horrific as World War one. It portrays the idea that any other experience other than war was better than having to face the reality of warfare. In addition, he implies that all of his previous experiences along with most of the soldier’s did not prepare him for what he was about to face and that no matter what the circumstances, the Great War would change him forever. This therefore leads me to fully appreciate the free and peaceful life that I live today.
Men of Verdun by Laurence Binyon.
There are five men in the moonlight
That by their shadows stand;
Three hobble humped on crutches,
And two lack each a hand.
Frogs somewhere near the roadside
Chorus their chant absorbed:
But a hush breathes out of the dream-light
That far in heaven is orbed.
It is gentle as sleep falling
And wide as thought can span,
The ancient peace and wonder
That brims the heart of man.
Beyond the hills it shines now
On no peace but the dead,
On reek of trenches thunder-shocked,
Tense fury of wills in wrestle locked,
A chaos crumbled red!
The five men in the moonlight
Chat, joke, or gaze apart.
They talk of days and comrades,
But each one hides his heart.
They wear clean cap and tunic,
As when they went to war;
A gleam comes where the medal's pinned:
But they will fight no more.
The shadows, maimed and antic,
Gesture and shape distort,
Like mockery of a demon dumb
Out of the hell-din whence they come
That dogs them for his sport:
But as if dead men were risen
And stood before me there
With a terrible fame about them blown
In beams of spectral air,
I see them, men transfigured
As in a dream, dilate
Fabulous with the Titan-throb
Of battling Europe's fate;
For history 's hushed before them,
And legend flames afresh, --
Verdun, the name of thunder,
Is written on their flesh.
The poem that I chose was Men of Verdun by Laurence Binyon. After giving the poem a proper look, it can be seen it falls under the category as a lyric type poem, which tells a personal story, which in this case tells of veterans that fought in the Battle of Verdun, which was a major thought in the minds of the French people during The Great War. “Men” is about five veterans who fought in the Battle of Verdun, had how they have changed. Some for the better, and some for the worse.
The poem tells the reader a story, a story about the soldiers of Verdun. It shows us what the scene would have looked like, how chaotic it was. As can be seen in the forth stanza, it tells of the dangerous nature it seemed, as well as the reality of war. “Men” tries to explain the horrors of war, the view point of the veterans, but since we are not in the age where the only warfare we see is on CNN, we cannot even grasp at what these veterans go through in their minds.
The metaphors in “Men” are not easy to find, though one may be seen as in takes place at night, and in the fifth stanza, it makes mention of hidden, or “dark” feelings. Similes can also be found in this poem. Such a one can be found in the sixth stanza, when the author makes note on how the uniform they wear is as clean as the only when they entered the war with. This symbolizes that they may look as clean as they went into the war, but it can be noted that at the beginning of the poem, it tells that some are missing limbs. Not all the five senses are present, but you can find vision in the first stanza, feel in the second stanza, the smell you can “see” in the “reek of trenches thunder-shocked”.
The poem in organized by verses, each with its own meaning. The reader is taken from the back lines, to the front, then back again to the recovering soldiers. The author decided to shape Men of Verdun like this so that the reader could understand what is going on. Most people in the western world are not exposed to war today then say the people of the early 20th century. Mr. Binyon tried to give us a glimpse into this unknown world, with small doses at a time. The reader can see the artillery scorned trenches, the darkness of it all. The reader gets the picture of the hell the soldiers must have faces on a continuous basis through out the war.
The Men of Verdun poem does use a rhyming scheme, which goes to the form, abab. The rhythm of the poem as you read it is continuous, with some short lags as some of the stanza does have an extra line. The reader can tell, that by the author choosing this writing style, he wants us to feel emotion, as well as convey the thoughts of someone actually there. The feeling can be felt in the 8th stanza, with puts the author on the spot, seeing the dead as if they were alive. This feeling of “living dead” continues to push the want of the author to let the readers get that glimpse of war.
The language patterns in Men of Verdun can be construed as informative. The author uses words like mockery of demon dumb and titan-throb. This gives the deep impression of how we can cause destruction at a “god” like level. When the author mentions the mockery of demons dumb, it sends the message to the readers that even a demon whose purpose is to case mayhem, would find warfare ludicrous. The mention of titan-throb shows the readers of what level the destruction of war causes.
Overall, the poem is conveying a sense of dread of warfare, how 5 men survived with tattered memories of horrific actions, missed comrades, as well as lonely feeling of it all. The reader gets a good understanding of what war is truly about, with out actually being there. The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles of WWI, with thousands of casualties on both the German and French side over one city. The poem conveys the feeling that must have been felt by these men stuck in trenches 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with only rations. It helps the reader understand the sacrifices that were made, and how “glorious” it was to be returning from the war.
The Spirit by Woodbine Willy
When there ain't no gal to kiss you,
And the postman seems to miss you,
And the fags have skipped an issue,
Carry on.
When ye've got an empty belly,
And the bulley's rotten smelly,
And you're shivering like a jelly,
Carry on.
When the Boche has done your chum in,
And the sergeant's done the rum in,
And there ain't no rations comin',
Carry on.
When the world is red and reeking,
And the shrapnel shells are shrieking,
And your blood is slowly leaking,
Carry on.
When the broken battered trenches,
Are like the bloody butchers' benches,
And the air is thick with stenches,
Carry on.
Carry on,
Though your pals are pale and wan,
And the hope of life is gone,
Carry on.
For to do more than you can,
Is to be a British man,
Not a rotten 'also ran,'
Carry on..
The title of the poem is "The Spirit" by Woodbine Willy. It's based on initiative to keep pushing forward no matter what. It gives out the message that obstacles are only obstacles; not a reason to stop but to push harder.
The ideas in the poem illustrate different issues a soldier may experience during the war. It constantly reminds you to push harder no matter what. It tells a story of what a soldier goes through at war. The poem may be the conscience of a soldier, telling him not to give up, and that there is hope.
The poem illustrates what it's like to be in battle, to witness the murders of fellow soldiers and friends. It gives the reader the image of being in the trenches, being an injured man out at war, with no help whatsoever. The poet illustrates the struggle of being hungry, cold, and at risk of death all at the same time.
In each stanza of the poem, the lines rhyme with one another. The poet uses this to its advantage, to give a sense of rhythm, but also because it contrasts the understanding of the poem. It keeps the reader following the story without losing track wondering what each line means.
The use of vocabulary in this poem clearly states a point that when a soldier goes out to war, he must stay committed to his role, given the circumstances. There is no reason to give up, but more of a reason to strive for achievement.
I feel that this poem is a great example of motive for success. In every individual's life, they face a devastating amount of obstacles. One must find the strength and courage to push themselves past those obstacles; otherwise they will be left behind.
Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon
I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.
In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again...
You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.
Response
The poem written by Siegfried Sassoon called ‘Suicide in the Trenches’ is a quatrain which tells the story of a young soldier who kills himself in the trenches during World War One after falling victim to the conditions and utter chaos brought on from trench warfare. It is also about how those who do not go to war know nothing of the horrors it really brings and only cheer happily as young soldiers are being led to their deaths.
The first stanza depicts the young soldier who at first is very happy and care free and has not fully grasped what war was all about and what he had got himself into. The second stanza tells of how he finally realized how horrible a place he was in. There were no luxuries and the entire place was infested with lice and was cold. Upon this realization he ended his life by shooting himself in the head. The third stanza shows Sassoon’s anger towards those who have not gone to war and only cheer on the men who are going thinking that war was absolutely nothing bad. All they see is patriotism and are under the impression that the war will end quickly and the soldiers would come back soon, they are completely ignorant to the fact that war is not that easy.
At first the poem conveys a picture of a very calm and non hostile environment that evokes the senses of sight and hearing. This is all shown through the depiction of the soldier by saying he is smiling and safe at night when he sleeps and even whistles when he wakes up to the sound of larks. It all seems as if he were not really at war at all. But this quickly changes within the second stanza as a picture forms from the use of the words ‘winter’, ‘glum’ and ‘lice’. This evokes the senses of touch. All these words create a picture of what war really is. This is the reality that the soldier starts to understand and it makes the reader feel cold and as if all hope and will is lost. The sadness becomes even stronger when the soldier finally kills himself and the reader realizes how no on ever speaks of him again, which also gives off the same cold feeling from the beginning of the stanza when winter is mentioned. The last stanza seems to emit a fierce hate for those who are ignorant to the horrors of war. The sense of sight and hearing are created within this stanza. It emits the image of a rousing crowd cheering on soldiers as they pass by only to go home later and pray that they will never have to be apart of the war and never have to know anything horrible about it either. Sassoon almost seems disgusted with these people.
The poem is organized into three stanza each consisting of four lines. The structure of this poem allows the poet to move from one idea to the next and show separation between scenes and feelings. Each stanza has its own focus and leads the reader from calm to sad and then on to anger. Each scene is separated by a comma within each stanza. By breaking the poem into three different parts it is easier for the reader to understand and be able to pick up on the emotions and meaning more easily.
The rhyming scheme used within this poem is aabbccddeeff. Sassoon rhymes simple one syllable words together. He uses very simple wording within the poem and uses very short meaningful lines which creates a very fast paced rhythm throughout. Each line of the poem has eight syllables except for ‘No on spoke of him again…’ (l.8) which draws the reader to this one line and the impact it gives. By having only seven syllables it breaks the rhythm in the poem and thus draws the reader to it to analyze it in greater depth.
Sassoon chooses to use simple mostly one syllable powerful words. By using these simple words he creates a feeling of straightforward truth where there is no idolization or attempts to romanticize the horrors of war. His word choice in the first two stanzas seems to eerily stay calm until he finally bursts out with anger in his third stanza. His choices of simple one syllable words to convey his emotion are very powerful. He uses words such as ‘smug’, ‘sneak’ and ‘hell’ whose tone when read is very forceful and passionate in comparison to an almost neutral tone he has before stanza three. His use of repeating the ‘s’ sound within the last stanza gives even more power to the feeling of anger he has because it leads to the picture of hissing or spitting with anger. His word use of ‘by’, ‘sneak’, ‘never’ and ‘hell’ like said before are very forceful and are far more pronounced when read, yet by the end of the third stanza the words are not as forceful but seem more spiteful. It is as if the last stanza is saying that the crowds of cheering people get to go home while the soldiers do not, all they march towards is death and this upsets Sassoon.
Conclusively, the poet is trying to convey the message of how war truly is. It is not a pleasant place and can easily be compared to a hell on earth, yet the people who stay at home are clueless to this and those who are not are turning a cold shoulder to the subject and pretending everything is ok only satisfied that they themselves do not need to go to war and see the horror first hand. Sassoon is trying to show the true victims of war and what they had to go through from the story of one young soldier.
For the Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
Laurence Binyon, a Red Cross worker in France during the First World War, wrote the poem entitled “For the Fallen” while he worked at the British Museum. His poem was published in The Times in September of 1914 and is used at present day memorials. This poem is about the outbreak of the First World War and the naivety of the young men, who left for war proud and enthused. These men were never to return home. Within the first few weeks of WWI, the British army suffered severe casualties- inspiring Binyon to write such a poem.
This poem is about the innumerable amount of soldiers that passed away so early in the war. The poem depicts the sorrow of both the biological mothers of the boys and the mother country of the soldiers. It is about the men who went to war for their country- full of patriotism and full of hope. These men were young, innocent and naïve to the horrors of war. The poem tells a story of lives lost, the memories left behind and the despair of new memories never being made. It is a memorial piece, meant to remember the soldiers and to recognize that they still remain in present day through spirit.
In the poem, imagery and metaphors are often used. “There is music in the midst of desolation, and a glory that shines upon our tears,” this line is metaphorical by saying there is music in the misery of these deaths and a glory in the tears of those reminiscing on their lives. Simply stated, this line is saying that although these men may be gone, their family and country can still feel proud of their will. When Binyon says, “Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow,” he is speaking to the innocence of the young that went to war- that they were pure and knew little of what they were bound to witness. This line is about those young soldiers that were maimed one by one. “They fell with their faces to their foe,” is a metaphor that the soldiers were not cowardly- they died fighting, directly in front of the opposition with courage. The use of a simile is used to show how the soldiers are forever remembered and missed dearly, “As the stars are known to the Night; as the stars that shall be bright when we are dust.” This simile compares the soldiers lost in combat to the stars in the night sky- that they will shine endlessly for their bravery and will be recognized for their duty long past the lives of their loved ones. There is a strong use of music to evoke the sense of listening in the reader. The music associated with marches, war drums and patriotism relate to the subject and reinforce the memorial aspect of the poem. The poem does not convey the heroics of war, but the sorrow and remembrance it carries. The literary device of repetition is used in the piece as well. In the first stanza the author says, “Flesh of her flesh, spirit of her spirit,” to emphasize that the soldiers are loyal and true to their country. There is also repetition found in the last line of the poem, “To the end, to the end, they will remain.” This is done to articulate the lasting effect of this war and the remembrance that will perpetually be paid.
The poem is organized into seven stanzas of four lines each. The author has written in this way because the poem is formal and of serious subject matter. This would be best expressed in a simple, somewhat strict format. The sequence of ideas transitions from introducing the dead as a whole- as a group of patriots that died for their country to reflecting on personal aspects of their lives such as dinners at home with their families and laughing with one another. From there, it moves to a conclusive ending of memory and tribute.
The poem has a rhyming scheme of a-b-c-b. The second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme, while the first and third do not rhyme with each other nor do they rhyme with the second and fourth. This rhyming pattern is continuous throughout the poem without a break. The meter is never broken in this piece and I feel the author did this because it was not meant to be a controversial poem nor is it a poem with a meaning that stands out. The poem is also written in iambic pentameter, with each line having from 10-12 syllables each; accents stressed on every second syllable. It is a poem of commemoration and solemn praise to those the world lost in WWI.
In the first stanza, the author personifies England as a mother to the men at war. Similar to their real mothers, England mourns their deaths, “With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea.” Personification is used again in stanza four, “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,” where the author personifies time as being unable to denounce their valour. Binyon also uses star symbolism to represent memories and courage that is everlasting. That, although they have passed, their spirit and their will live on through those that remember them, those that learn of them and those that come to be just like them.
In “For the Fallen” the poet is trying to convey a feeling of pride and respect for the people that passed away during WWI. He is showing the reader that these men were truly boys, playing the role of men, driven into a war by patriotism and bravery to make their country proud. He shows how regular they were- laughing and spending time with their families. He shows their innocence and how it was torn from them in a war that took their lives so soon in a battle they were so keen on fighting. He pays tribute to these men, or boys, yet in a truly tragic way. The poem is about those who have fallen; war being only their backdrop. Personally, this poem represents a fight for humanity itself. That, those who fight through times of terrible circumstance and pursue happiness for others are just as honourable as those that fight during war. The society in which we live is taken for granted-, as are the people that fought for us to live this way. For in this society, there are not many that can say they “fell with their faces to the foe.”
The Messages by: Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
"I cannot quite remember... There were five
Dropt dead beside me in the trench - and three
Whispered their last messages to me..."
Back from the trenches, more dead than alive,
Stone-deaf and dazed, and with a broken knee,
He hobbled slowly, muttering vacantly:
"I cannot quite remember... There were five
Dropt dead beside me in the trench, and three
Whispered their dying messages to me..."
Their friends are waiting, wondering how they thrive -
Waiting a word in silence patiently...But what they said, or who their friends may be
"I cannot quite remember... There where five Dropt dead beside me in the trench - and three
Whispered their dying messages to me..."
Response:
This Poem, The Messages was written about World War I by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson and it is a Lyric and Narrative poem. This poem is about a man that was fighting in the war, it doesn’t specifically tell you how the five other men died but they died right beside him. It could have been by a firearm or explosive but the main point is that they died right beside him. You can tell when you read this poem that the man is really affected by it because he repeats the words, “I cannot quite remember... There where five Dropt dead beside me in the trench - and three Whispered their dying messages to me..." This sentence sums up everything about how the man felt when he was seeing another die or dead. It’s a traumatizing experience that men had to go through, men killing men is not something that you see everyday; but soldiers did. He didn’t have one solider say their dieing message but three; you can never be seen or feel as normal once you come home from war, you feel dead inside but still your still very alive; wishing that you were shot on the battlefield as well with the other men. Being alive is torture because everyday is the same reoccurring experiences.
The picture that Gibson’s gives you by reading this poem is being in the trenches, dead bodies everywhere that in order to get to your destination you will come across more than a thousand dead bodies hanging off the edges and dangling, cries, blood everywhere, bombs being set off, noises of gun shots; a man encircled with five men that are dead or dieing in the trenches, blood on his hands and clothes, covered in wet mud, trying to recover the most conscience and those three men that are hanging onto their last breaths of air try to mutter their dieing words in hopes that it will get to their loved ones. This poems gives the reader a clear understanding of what war does to men, “Back from the trenches, more dead than alive, Stone-deaf and dazed, and with a broken knee, He hobbled slowly, muttering vacantly.” When men came back from the war their souls were left out there never to be found again. Out of the five sense hear and seeing is used throughout this poem, Hearing is used to describe the man in the poem and how he is “Stone-deaf” from after a battle broke out and men saying the dieing words to him, “Whispered their dying messages to me...". Sight is used when the man witnesses five dieing men, “There where five Dropt dead beside me in the trench - and three Whispered their dying messages to me..."
This poem is laid out by having the same paragraph repeated after a new paragraph. It will start by saying the main paragraph, then back it up, say the main paragraph, back it up, and then end it with the main paragraph. Gibson has this poem laid out this way because it’s to show the reader that the man in this poem is so affected by what happened that it’s all that he can think about. He’s so disturbed with what happened out on battle with the five men dieing beside him and having them say their dying message that all he can say is, “There where five Dropt dead beside me in the trench - and three Whispered their dying messages to me..." he doesn’t know how to function anymore, he’s become a mute, cant think about anything else but his experience, he’s unable to tell the friends of the men because the memory keeps coming back to him; and it will haunt him until the day he dies. In order for the reader to be shown this Gibson repeats the incident every other line.
This poem is laid out as aba, its rhythm when read out loud is rhyme A, rhyme B, rhyme A for the first paragraph, the second paragraph of each line ends with a word that has sound E to it, third paragraph is just like the first, forth is just like the second, and the fifth is just like the first and third. The reason for Gibson to choose this rhythm is to catch the reader at every line and every line connects together in order for it to be easier for the reader. Its catchy when read because everything rhythm’s together to fit in nicely. This poem The Messages doesn’t have a complicated structure to it; it flows and works perfectly with the story behind it.
In the poem The Messages the sound that is being brought out is a sad heart wrenching sound. It grasps the reader’s attention and fills the mood with a miserable feel and a clear understanding with what men had to go threw. The words that obtain the feel of the poem are: Dropped, Whispered, stoned, muttering, vacantly, thrive, silence, and patiently. The reason why Gibson used these words is because when you read the poem the words are so passionate that you get a better feel of what Gibson is showing you.
What Wilfrid Gibson is trying to show the reader in this poem is that battling in war and war itself isn’t a peachy clean cut thing; it’s a life changing experience that will affect and distress anyone that is able to come out alive. Men end up loosing themselves out on the grounds; it is a brutal experience that you will never come out the same as when you came in. The way Gibson put his poem into play and the use of words he chose makes it a captivating poem and is done perfectly. The story in the poem is very moving to me and is a magnificent read. Even though it’s as short as it is it was able to grasp the whole concept in those five paragraphs and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Suicide in the Trenches
I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.
In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again...
You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.
Siegfried Sassoon
Response
"Suicide in the Trenches" by Siegfried Sassoon is the poem chosen. In 1989 Siegfried Sassoon a British poet, diarist, and memoirist, published this poem. It speaks for and defends the soldiers that took the cowardly way out of war as well as the ones that gave their lives and innocents to their country.
The poem speaks of a boy that decided to commit suicide because he could not handle the conditions that he had to deal with in the war. This brings emphasis to how the conditions of the Great War were absolutely horrible. Soldiers in the war had to deal with lots of different illnesses as well as lack of nutrients and proper shelter. The boy, from the poem, was intimidated, and depressed because he had a damaged, trashed, decaying body with lice and could not drink the thoughts away. Also, it is understood in the world of psychology that individuals who decided to take their own life away tend to have a chemical imbalance in their brain. To reach a chemical imbalance in the brain from a stable brain means that an individual must be going through a serious series of depression in life. Through out the ages, individuals tend to lose respect for those who commit suicide, and they should, but sometimes it is important to understand why. Situations affect everything. That is what Sassoon tries to explain. In his last stanza he states an important point. “You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye, who cheer when soldier lads march by, sneak home and pray you’ll never know, the hell where youth and laughter go” explains that even individuals that show themselves as confident and proud should at least pray and hope that they will never have to experience the hell that soldiers go to, even they have to do it in the secret.
Sassoon exposes many types of different imagery, metaphors, and sense. Ones such as the “slept soundly through the lonesome dark” which gives a reader that there is a boy soldier who is sleeping alone in the dark, the start of analyzing depression. Also “with crumps and lice and lack of rum” giving the picture of a soldier who is wrecked and about to go insane itching himself because of lice, as he is looking for alcohol to get drunk.
The poet also brought metaphors in the poems to enhance the idea that he is trying to get across. “Sneak home and pray you’ll never know the hell where youth and laughter go” is the most powerful metaphor in the poem. Dealing with a human’s natural pride, Sassoon asks that if an individual with pride will not show weakness to the public, to at least to show it to God, so that God would keep hell away from them. World War I was hell, and what soldiers went through in the war was hell on earth. The boy’s act is justifiable.
As for the senses that are evoked, Sassoon has successfully used them enough to put readers in the situations. The first time senses were evoked through this poem, was in the first stanza, when the sense of sound and sight were used to highlight the boy soldier’s change from loneliness and depression to stability and security. At nights he sleeps quietly in the dark, yet awakes early with the confidence to sing with the birds. Another sense that was used later on was the sense of touch. Beginning in the second stanza with “in the winter trenches” automatically sends a chill down a reader’s spine, which adds on to the emotions of cold, lonely, and scary. Continuing the stanza to say “with crumps and lice…” adds on the feeling of fatigue which continues a reader’s feeling with the rest, making the reader feel despair for the soldier.
Sassoon intellectually sets his poem frame and structure well, so readers would have difficulty of discontinuing the poem. The poem is set up into two stanzas, making it short and quick to the point. Significantly, the saddest line in the poem was the shortest, the line of which claims that no one spoke of the boy after his death. The rhyming scheme of aabb was used through out the whole poem, giving it a fluent flow that attracts reader. Reading the poem aloud gives a correct tone of melody, forcing the reader to read the poem in a certain way, exaggerating the emotions experienced.
The poet has organized certain words in certain locations to associate in the reader’s mind. Mentioning that the soldier had lice gives you the image that the soldiers must have gone on for a very long time with cleaning themselves, as well as exposing their bodies to dirty substances. Also, Sassoon helps readers recognize that soldiers did whatever it took to keep them from reality by drinking, or in this case, death.
“Suicide in the Trenches” is properly finished with a personification. Sassoon makes a very subtle point that both laughter and youth are doomed and bound to face hell at war. Facing actual hell is not possible and unimaginable, but conditions are so brutal that exaggerations feel necessary.
The poet communicates many ideas to readers. He shows that it is important to know and understand what occurred at war and how unfair it is. He also justifies the soldiers’ coward act of suicide by explaining obvious situations. Finally he ends with asking for prayers to not experience such brutality, at the same time as he enforces the idea, that war should not be a resolution, into a reader’s mind.Sassoon has successfully convinced me with his ideas and thoughts with his great use of words, ryhm, and personification.
No Man's Land
No Man's Land is an eerie sight
At early dawn in the pale gray light.
Never a house and never a hedge
In No Man's Land from edge to edge,
And never a living soul walks there
To taste the fresh of the morning air; -
Only some lumps of rotting clay,
That were friends or foemen yesterday.
What are the bounds of No Man's Land?
You can see them clearly on either hand,
A mound of rag-bags gray in the sun,
Or a furrow of brown where the earthworks run
From the eastern hills to the western sea,
Through field or forest o'er river and lea;
No man may pass them, but aim you well
And Death rides across on the bullet or shell.
But No Man's Land is a goblin sight
When patrols crawl over at dead o' night;
Boche or British, Belgian or French,
You dice with death when you cross the trench.
When the "rapid," like fireflies in the dark,
Flits down the parapet spark by spark,
And you drop for cover to keep your head
With your face on the breast of the four months' dead.
The man who ranges in No Man's Land
Is dogged by the shadows on either hand
When the star-shell's flare, as it bursts o'er head,
Scares the gray rats that feed on the dead,
And the bursting bomb or the bayonet-snatch
May answer the click of your safety-catch,
For the lone patrol, with his life in his hand,
Is hunting for blood in No Man's Land.
James H. Knight-Adkin
The poem “No Man's Land” is written by James H. Knight-Adkin. This ballad was written in 1917. The poem “No Man's Land” describes the atrocities of World War I. Specifically it deals with No Man's Land, the lifeless area between the trenches. The poem depicts the lack of hope in No Man's Land.
The first verse of the poem deals with the theme of a deserted, lifeless area between the trenches. Throughout the remainder of the poem No Man's Land is depicted as a place with known boundaries, but no one can escape. The threat of death is always at large in No Man's Land. There is no time of safety, there are always attacks on both trenches; there are no areas to hide. I believe the poem is about the tragedy and lack of hope during the first world war. This is because death is continually referred to throughout the poem. Knight-Adkin makes many references to this lack of hope, including “only some lumps of rotting clay, that were friends or foemen yesterday.” This quotation represents the death that occurs in No Man's Land.
The major imagery in the first verse gives a visual description of No Man's Land. The quotation “an eerie sight... in the pale gray light” describes No Man's Land as a foreboding place at the root of darkness and tragedy. Also, the location is described along with description of lighting with “like fireflies in the dark, flits down the parapet spark by spark.” The parapet brings a sense of location to the poem because it describes the physical location in the trench. The parapet is the barrier in front of the trench that stretches across the trench's length. The sparks described are visual images used to represent the fighting in the war, whether it be from guns or shrapnel. The 5 senses are used to evoke emotions in the reader. One example of this is “with your face on the breast of the four months' dead.” This sense of touch gives the reader a crude view of reality. They realize how much death occurs between the trenches.
The poem is organised in in four verses with eight lines in each verse. This is the structure of a ballad, with various verses reflecting an event in history. James H. Knight-Adkin has structured the poem in this way for a flow in the text. He groups similar ideas in each verse, such as a deserted location in the first verse.
The poem rhymes in an “aabb” fashion. When read aloud there are short pauses after every second line. This has to do with the rhyme from the prior two consecutive lines. The poet chooses to order the poem in this fashion because it allows him to group similar ideas. The ideas are linked within each rhyme, such as in the quote “Never a house and never a hedge In No Man's Land from edge to edge.” This similar idea, relating to the vacated space in No Man's Land, is separated from the other text by a comma. This allows the reader to feel the effect of each rhyme throughout the poem.
James Knight-Adkin uses descriptive words to bring upon the certain associations in the reader's mind. For example, the line “only some lumps of rotting clay” forces the reader to focus upon the word rotting. Rotting is associated with death, and generally has an evil or depressing annotation. Knight-Adkin uses words with a foreboding or evil annotation in order to effectively evoke the emotions and thoughts of the reader.
The poet is trying to communicate the harshness and dreadfulness of world war one, specifically that of No Man's Land. He wants to portray the severe loss of life between the trenches, and how difficult the reality is. The language he uses is excellent in evoking the reader's emotions. This is because most of the words used somehow impact the reader, whether it be from the negative annotations or from a contrast in the line. For example, “And never a living soul walks there To taste the fresh of the morning air,” brings a negative scenario out of what would have been an otherwise positive event. I believe that this is an excellent poem in conveying its purpose. The rhyming and language is used to effectively represent the evil throughout world war one. I found that this poem is moving in its representation of the Great War.
I. Peace
By: Rupert Brooke
1914
Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,
Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
And all the little emptiness of love!
Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there,
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;
Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there
But only agony, and that has ending;
And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.
Response
The poem I have chosen is called “Peace” written by Rupert Brooke. The type of poem of this selection is a sonnet. It is the first poem of Brooke's sequence of five war sonnets entitled '1914'. This poem mainly portrays a young soldier's confidence towards war, and his keenness to fight and die for the glory of his country. It goes deeper into the mindset of World War I soldiers once the reality of war has set in, and encompasses the courage, strength, and will that is asked for in the trenches.
The poem expresses an idealism in the face of death, incorporating the theme of patriotism with a sense of reality. The soldier seems to let go of fear, and takes hold a willingness to sacrifice his life for his devotion. Brooke paints images of inspired youth, young men with a sense of calling. “Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour; And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping”, shows the thrill of getting involved in the war and the chance to be tested to prove their manhood. Brooke also illustrates a sense of renewal that coincides with war. Fighting for the betterment of the society's future, and cleansing young manhood for the tenderness of Modernism. Sensory imagery is used throughout the poem to enable the reader to relate to the emotions depicted. The soldiers equip themselves “with hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power”, the ability to see the limit and extent of their aim, “glad from a world grown old and cold and weary”, the ability to feel beyond their suffering, “nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there”, and the ability to hear nothing but the force that drives them to survive. It evokes a sense of duty, and inspiration in the readers.
Brooke organizes his poem into stanzas, in the structure of a sonnet which is composed of 14 lines of iambic pentameter, divided into an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). He also adds an extra syllable to 10 of the 14 lines in the poem. I believe Brooke structures his poem in this manner because each sentence is filled with emotion, as to depict the intensity of the soldier's thoughts upon entering the war. The first stanza of the poem rhymes in an a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d, Shakespearean/Elizabethan fashion while the second stanza rhymes in an e-g-f-e-g-f, Italian rhyming scheme. The first stanza has a flowing rhythm when read aloud, it is used to announce a great change. The flow of the rhythm however is broken up at the start of the second stanza, which functions to detail further the change, whether in thought or in the sudden occurrence of war.
The predominant literary device used is symbolism. The poem shows that everything, even pain is temporary. We must live in knowingly, avert from false ideology and false people. Brooke uses personification as well, wherein he says “and the worst friend and enemy is but Death”, this conveys how death must be seen in war. It is the worst enemy because everyone, from both rivaling armies, fight against death, but it is the worst friend as well because it can relieve you from the anguish and agony that war brings.
“Peace” exemplifies the reality of thought that soldiers must succumb to, self-realization and self-determination. That in the “do or die” situation of the war, the only thing they could do is keep on fighting forward. They must face horrific or liberating role that death plays in war, and accept it. The poem allows me to realize how nonchalant we are amidst the terror in this world. It enables us to illuminate optimism in every situation, so that we may be able to change the dominant pessimist mentality of people today.
Break of Day in the Trenches
Isaac Rosenberg
1917
The darkness crumbles away -
It is the same old druid Time as ever.
Only a live thing leaps on my hand -
A queer sardonic rat -
As I pull the parapet's poppy
To stick behind my ear.
Droll rat, they would shoot you if they knew
Your cosmopolitan sympathies
(And God knows what antipathies).
Now you have touched this English hand
You will do the same to a German -
Soon, no doubt, if it be your pleasure
To cross the sleeping green between.
It seems you inwardly grin as you pass
Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes
Less chanced than you for life,
Bonds to the whims of murder,
Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,
The torn fields of France.
What do you see in our eyes
At the shrieking iron and flame
Hurled through still heavens?
What quaver - what heart aghast?
Poppies whose roots are in man's veins
Drop, and are ever dropping;
But mine in my ear is safe,
Just a little white with the dust.
Response:
World war one was a drastic eye opener for many people. Much of the people who went off to war visualized war as a party, and then coming back as a hero. When many of these young men reached war there was a unexpected shock. Many of them couldn’t grasp the reality of war. Through a lyrical poem called Break of Day in the Trenches, Isaac Rosenberg tries to show his readers the reality of how cruel war was.
In the times of world war one (1914-1918) there was no media to show the rest of the world the horror these men lived through. Poetry was one of the only ways to give the people a visual aid to see what war was like. Rosenberg tells a story of a soldier’s life in the trench. He shows the readers the living conditions of the war by illustrating the rats and rodents “leaps on my hand”. The poet also explains “.. if it be your pleasure To cross the sleeping green between. …” many of the young soldiers had dreams to go to war. It was shown as fun and enjoyable. The poet shows that there is nothing pleasurable about crossing fields and risk your life “Less chanced than you for life,” for war. I think the poet is illustrating the life of a solider in world war one. There was a misconception about the greatness of going to war.
Through out this poem the poet paints many pictures to help explain the message he is portraying. One of the greatest pictures I find the poet is illustrating for the readers is “Poppies whose roots are in man's veins” the atmosphere is shown where there are many bodies in the grown that flowers roots are growing through there veins. This sense of disgust and misery is show. Also another picture is illustrated through “Sprawled in the bowels of the earth, The torn fields of France”. The poet wants the reader’s to see the reality of war, and so he illustrates the conditions and atmosphere the soldiers had to live in. You see bowls in the earth, huge ditches caused from explosions leave imprints in the ground. Also torn fields of France, France was a beautiful country known for its outstanding scenery, and landscape during the early 1900, and for this to be torn up and destroyed the reader is able to interpret the dark and gloomy environment these men faced.
The poet also uses metaphors to help illustrate the pictures of war. He uses the poppy to illustrate the reality of war. The poppy is safe from being tramples on or destroyed as long as it is behind his ear. The poppy is seen as the soldiers, as long as the hide behind the trenches and the walls (the ear) their lives will be safe. As long as they are blocked or protected there is no threat to them. This was true in world war one there was not much fighting that was happening inside the trenches; it was very boring and dull. Rosenberg uses this metaphor to also explain the reality of the war fought in trenches.
Also to complete the painting, Rosenberg uses a description of the sense touch to further explain the poem. This is shown in “Now you have touched this English hand
You will do the same to a German”. Here he is talking about touching the a dead enemy., the Germans, this also adds to the horrific views and experiences these men went through.
Isaac Rosenberg organizes his poem as a series of lines. This is a very popular layout for poems. The author has decided to structure his layout according to his ideas. The poem begins with the idea of the poppy but it seems to drag off topic and he ends the poem by concluding his beginning idea of the poppy.
The poet does not use any kind of rhyming throughout the poem. He uses metaphors and ideas to illustrate his ideas to the readers. However there is a rhythm to the poem when read aloud. Rosenberg uses short lines that cause the reader to take many breaks, allowing them to reflect and understand what the author is portraying in the poem. Rosenberg does this to prevent the reader from reading through the poem really quickly and missing the different breaks in his ideas.
The poet uses a very personal language through out the play. It is written in first person view. The readers find the story coming from a person perspective, one who went through war. Also the author uses specific words through out the poem that may have a certain connection to the readers mind. An example of this is “...if it be your pleasure “ it is shown that many of the soldiers were told that it would be a pleasurable experience, here the author is showing the false advertisement and ideas of what it is like to be at war. The poet groups descriptive words together to help create images of war “….same old druid Time”. Also the line “What quaver - what heart aghast?” the words are grouped to show the shock and fear that war brings to people. This line is used to explain the feelings a solider feels on the battlefield.
In conclusion, I find that Rosenberg is very successful portraying the image of the reality of war and the gruesome experiences many of the soldiers have gone though. The poet is able to describe to the readers what life at war is like. He shows that it is neither glamorous nor pleasurable a common misconception. The poet is able to tell a story of a solider who tries to stay alive by the only way he knows how, which is hiding. This poem is able to give insight to the life of a solider. It is able to show the reality that a soldier’s life is not what it is shown as. After reading the poem the reader is filled with gratitude to these who fought in the war. Also readers realize how important the soldier’s lives and endurance is, they are seen to be more heroic and are given the respect and gratitude they deserve.
Anthem for Doomed Youth
Composed: 1917
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
- Wilfred Owen
Response:
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” was written by Wilfred Owen. Owen writes this poem in the style of a sonnet. He tries to evoke the reader with respect as well as pity towards the doomed youth of the war. The subject of this sonnet is the young soldiers who lost their lives in World War 1.
The sonnet is grouped into two basic parts. The first half talks about the noise and chaos of the war and how there is no influence but those men and their guns on the battle field. The second part of the sonnet is the death that is brought back to hometowns and the women who are left without husbands and sons. I think this poem was to show the horror the reader of this poem was not able to witness. I feel Owen was trying to show the greatness of these men and the honor people should show towards these soldiers.
The poem paints a picture of chaos in the battlefield of young men before their death. It creates an image of mass violence and cluster ending with a peaceful death where the men are covered by their women (because they would not of been sent to war) standing over their grave with their brows looking overtop the caskets of the young soldiers as the casket is lowered into the dark hole and buried. Owen uses a metaphor by referring to the rapid fire of rifles as a choir. He also uses a slimily by saying the eyes of the boys are the candles which light the way. Owen also ends the poem with a metaphor using the drawing-down of blinds as a metaphor for the darkness of the grave which the caskets or lowered into. The fives senses are not all evoked in the poem however you can see and hear many of the ideas.
The form and structure of this poem is relatively similar to most other sonnets and holds true to its meaning which is “little song”. It was organized purposely to be concise by using metaphors to gather a larger picture and by using very descriptive words which help the reader to hear and see the idea. I think that Owen also arranged the poem to flow from Chaos to Silence to show the true emotions the soldiers faced, which was life and death.
The sonnet does not follow a pattern in its rhyme scheme but is broken up into sections the first eight lines go “abababab”, then the next four lines go “abba” and the last two rhyme with each other as “bb”. When read aloud the first 8 lines sound out in two repetitions of “abab” the first four repetitions as one sentence and the second four lines as another. The Last 6 lines are again divided into two repetitions of which follow the “abb” pattern. The first three lines are the first sentence and the last 3 are the second.
The words which were purposely picked for the poem were chosen so that the reader could paint a picture in their mind. These words are descriptive words that imply a feeling or previous memory. The words best used are the ones that can be used as metaphors to describe something in the war with something the reader can relate. Owen says things like monstrous anger when referring to the sound of the guns. He also talks about the replacement of a choir with rapid fire of riffles. Owen uses alliteration in his title with the words “Doomed” and “Anthem”. He uses Assonance with words like “rapid rattle” and “patient minds”. Owen also used Personification while using the human eye as the representation of a candle. The symbolism in the sonnet is the same as the metaphors.
I thought that this poem was very well written. Its concept was personal and sad in its truth, and the words emphasized that point. It was able to paint a picture and let you hear the sounds like a sonnet should. I think that the poem gave the reader a new respect towards the soldiers in the war and let the reader step into the battlefields and follow them in the direction which in reality many soldiers followed which was their death bed surrounded by their loved ones. This poem was a tragic telling of the truth of war and gave me new respect towards the brave people who participated in this war.
“Back” by Wilfrid Gibson
They ask me where I've been,
And what I've done and seen.
But what can I reply
Who know it wasn't I,
But someone just like me,
Who went across the sea
And with my head and hands
Killed men in foreign lands...
Though I must bear the blame,
Because he bore my name.
Response:
The poem “Back” was written by War poet, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson. The poem talks about someone who cannot describe his experience during World War I.
The poem tells a brief story of a man who is asked about World War I. when the author wrote “Who know it wasn’t I”, the man does not know how to reply because he thinks the one who actually fought in the war wasn’t him but someone that bared his physical appearance. In the end of the poem, the man comes to terms with himself when he says “though I must bear the blame, because he bore my name”. The man finally understands that the one who fought in the war was him but was not like him.
The pictures expressed in the poem are expressed though memories. When asked about World War I, the man is left remembering the terrible things he did there and is trying to shield himself with the illusion that it wasn’t him who did these terrible things, or for that matter it wasn’t him that went to war. The sense of sight is used so the reader is able to see and remember the atrocities that the man saw and remembered. The author is doing this to evoke sympathy and remorse. He is trying to make us understand how war changes people.
The poem is organised into 5 couplets which are then put together into one verse. Each couplet represents the man’s different ideas. The couplets allow the reader to experience the man’s ideas. Each couplet you read, you are subject to the man’s thoughts and begin to understand his state of mind.
The poem is arranged in a series of couplets, rhymed in aabbccddee format. Each line in the poem consists of 6 syllables each which creates a fluent rhythm when read aloud. The poem also consists of very simplistic words, also creating a fast passed rhythm. The writer of this poem may have done this to reflect the span of time from the person asking the question to the man trying to answer it. the equal number of syllables in each line is so the reader is able to imagine each thought with equal depth.
The choice of words and the sound of the poem emphasizes confusion in the beginning when the man says “but what can I reply, who know it wasn’t I”. The man in the poem does not know how to answer the question about him during the war because he believes that he wasn’t there; therefore he cannot reply and wonders to himself how can he answer the question if the one who was at the war wasn’t him?. In the very end of the poem, the man says “though I must bear the blame, because he bore my name”. The man has now come to terms with the fact that it was him fighting in the war but he was not “there” in the sense that it was him physically but not mentally. The title itself is has significance to the poem. When the reader reads the poem, he or she is taken “back” with the man, while he tries to understand himself during World War I.
The poet, Wilfrid Gibson is trying to communicate to the reader that war can alter a man’s state of mind. He is trying to make us understand how much of a different person one can be when faced with war. Wilfrid’s choice of words were effective in trying to get the reader to understand the man in the poem’s state of mind. I, as a reader feel that this poem has furthered my understanding of war and how people take it for granted. When reading the poem, it helped me understand the degree to how war can change someone to the point where even he may not be able to recognize himself.
"Dulce Et Decorum Est"
A poem by Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
GAS! GAS! Quick, boys! --An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, --
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Analysis:
Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is inspired by one of Horace’s well-known quotes. Owen breaks from the conventional form of poetry to signify society, seceding from being human, losing the human values and morals altogether. Owen’s unique technique in writing symbolizes change, that a person must be able to set aside what the world believes in order to see the truth. The Latin motto means: ‘it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.’ –something that Owen did not believe in after experiencing the promises of the war firsthand, and which explains why he called it “the old lie”.
The poem describes a sudden gas attack on a group of weary soldiers, how they struggled to survive and at some point the obscene death of man and the loss of his hopes due to the series of torment and pain caused by the war, contrasting society’s connotation as a sweet and fitting death for his country. In “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, Owen reveals the pains of War that was covered by a perfect lie that the soldiers during World War 1 believed in order to hide themselves from the truth.
Owen used such similes and verbal irony to set the reader in reality, where the truth of war is camouflaged. Death is equaled with the idea of victory and anguish is a process of attaining honor. Owen also boldly used vivid imagery to illustrate the pains of war. Comparing a dying man’s face to “a devil’s sick of sin”, to express the torment caused by the futility of war. Owen’s aggressive way of writing and choice of words affects the readers by letting them feel the presence of war through his personal experience. The cruelty of war and the destruction of our morals being delivered to us by his own hands.
Back
They ask me where I've been,
And what I've done and seen.
But what can I reply
Who know it wasn't I,
But someone just like me,
Who went across the sea
And with my head and hands
Killed men in foreign lands...
Though I must bear the blame,
Because he bore my name.
Wilfred Gibson
The poem I chose to do is called “Back” which was written by the poet Wilfred Bison and it is a Clerihew. This poem shows the reality of war to the reader through the eyes of a returning soldier.
"Back" is a poem about a returning soldier. He is asked about what he has gone through, but its a memory he soon wants to forget. The reality of the situation is that he killed many men, and some even bearing the same name as his. No one can understand the emotions and horror these men went through during the war unless they've gone through it themselves.
How can you ask someone to relive one of the most horrific moments of their life? Humans are naturally curious, but sometime it’s better to leave things alone.
The imagery I get from this poem is of war, foreign countries, and a world across the sea. There are no metaphors or similes used to explain ideas, and the five senses are not used evoke certain reactions in the reader.
The poem is organized into one paragraph with short lines. The poet wrote
the poem in a way that is straight to the point, and quite simple.
When read aloud, the rhythm is simple yet effective in its purpose. It flows from beginning to end. The style of the poem is a Clerihew which gives it the rhyming aabb aabb. This makes it easy for the reader to read the poem and understand its meaning. It may be a simple method of rhyming, but its an effective one.
The language used in this poem is simple and to the point. The reader doesn’t need to look beyond the words to understand their meaning because it is laid out in front of them. The poet uses simple language to put across a strong meaning and evokes a strong feeling in the reader.
The poet is trying to communicate to the reader the mind set of a returning soldier and the hardships they yet to face with the horrific memories they have of war on how they will continue to live on with these memories. Gibson is very effective with the language he uses because it is straight to the point and easy for the reader to understand. I personally enjoyed the poem. It was quite short, but still evokes an emotion when I read it. This poem makes me thankful that I haven't had to go through the hardships of war, losing your friends, and having to kill a human being. I hope I never have to live with such embedded memories that will stay with me throughout my life.
Who's for the trench ?
Are you, my laddie?
Who'll follow French ?
Will you, my laddie?
Who's fretting to begin,
Who's going out to win?
And who wants to save his skin ?
Do you, my laddie?
Who's for the khaki suit ?
Are you, my laddie?
Who longs to charge and shoot ?
Do you, my laddie?
Who's keen on getting fit,
Who means to show his grit,
And who'd rather wait a bit ?
Would you, my laddie?
Who'll earn the Empire's thanks ?
Will you, my laddie?
Who'll swell the victor's ranks ?
Will you, my laddie?
When that procession comes,
Banners and rolling drums ?
Who'll stand and bite his thumbs ?
Jessie Pope’s “The Call” is a ballad which challenges young men to fight for their country. An obscured condensed account of the story in war in that her poem progresses in chronological order. First she asks “Who’s fretting to begin”(Pope) meaning leaving to go and fight, “charge and shoot”(Pope) in the battlefield and then a mere six lines later the trooper is back home with the “Empire’s thanks?”(Pope). It is very unrealistic account of war; she accelerates though the phases of a solider in war when first she talks about the initial inscription, then being on the battlefield and then suddenly the solider is back home and being rewarded for his efforts. Pope only scrapes the surface of war because her foremost purpose is to incite boys to become soldiers and therefore refrains from making reference to the harsh, bloody reality of war. She focuses on the ideas of Patriotism and the theme of manhood as powerful tools to motivate young men into action. Every stanza will start off evoking patriotism and then questions the manhood of the young man listening. In times of war nationalism is always at its peak, so naturally playing with the overfeed patriotism of people will yield results. The person who will not stand up to defend their country could be viewed as a traitor. Even more cleverly Pope questions the manhood of the one who will not fight for his country. She equates the fear of war to being cowardly. Pope separates the patriot men from the cowardly when she asks “Who’s fretting to begin, Who’s gong out to win?”(Pope) and inquires “Who means to show his grit, And who’d rather wait a bit?”(Pope) not only does she expect people to go out and become soldiers but they must do it without fear or procrastination.
Imagery appears upon reading “Who’s for the khaki suit?”(Pope), you can imagine dull yellowish brown military uniform, and the pride that must be felt by the person wearing it because of the way the poem is written. When she describes “Banners and rolling drums?”(Pope) you get a sense of imagery like a scene from a parade and it’s as if you can hear the cheers of the people congratulating the soldiers. Pope uses the trench and khaki suit as metaphors for the war, so what she really wants to know is “who is for the war”. When she asks, “Who’ll stand and bite his thumbs”(Pope) it is symbolic of a baby sucking on his thumb, or what children do when they are nervous or scared. The symbolism is that if a man does join the war effort he is a coward.
The Poem is organized in verses or stanzas with eight lines each. Each stanza relates to a stage in the life of a solider. With in each verse she questions the “Laddie” listening. The rhyming scheme in the poem is ABAB. When read out load the syllables in A gradually rise in pitch and then lower in pitch towards the end of the B line. Structuring her poem like in such a manner gives it a tune like a jingle and makes it catchy, which is what she was probably aiming for. It makes the poem giddy and exciting and gives it euphony which makes it sound pleasant. Since the purpose of the poem is to get young boys excited for the war its rhythm is perfectly suited because it lightens a very depressing subject.
Jessie Pope is trying to communicate the valor in standing up for your country. She labels those who will not as cowardly and rewards those that do with “When that procession comes Banners and rolling drums”(Pope). She paints war to be a pretty picture, and that it is temporary and wont last long. Her poem is an example of pro-war propaganda and many people are quick to criticize her for writing about something of which she is ignorant. I personally however feel that she should not be judged too harshly because what she communicates in her poetry are her own opinions, which after all where influenced by the time, situation and society she lived in. Her ideas were instilled in her by the patriarchal society she lived in, including those of the stereotypical brave solider man. As well at the time of the war propaganda for it flourished mostly because of the need to keep people’s sprites high and sustain their support in a massive bloody war which was claiming the lives of so many. Since Pope lived in England at the time of World War 1 she like many others were kept uninformed of what really went on in the trenches. Just like today there is little awareness of the many wars that are being fought half-way across the world. Pope wrote of something she knew very little of, but that her country was endorsing therefore she cannot be fully blamed for miscon
Your Notable Quotes for "World War I Poetry"
Like I stated elsewhere:
Feedback, both positive and negative, is important. I will copy and paste lines from your weekly writings so that you can see what I truly enjoyed about your work.
They are not in any particular order of brilliance ... in case you're wondering, they are in chronological order as per their post date.
Please do not assume that there is a direct correlation between the length of quotes and the grade.
Here are the quotes that I've pulled from your writing this week:
Cory K said...
* This limerick is about the dead during WWI and how they were lost as they left for the war and will all one day come back together after they die.
* “The Night Cometh” means the end of man, leaving unfinished task to be complete by us so those men who died shall live on in our memories.
Andrew S said...
* Men singing songs and chanting things trying to get what’s really happening out of their head, because its hell.
* In Sandberg’s “Iron” he is trying to get his point across about the war. He uses two tools to do this, and basically show the horrors of war. A gun and a shovel. Guns kill people, shovels burry people. In the war this was a reoccurring cycle you would use one tool and than have to use another.
Taylor S said...
* The poem The Death-Bed written by Siegfried Sassoon is a dramatic monologue. This dramatic monologue describes the experience of a soldier living their last moments on a bed in a hospital room, and what kind of horrible pain they felt. Without the medical technology no matter what attempt that was made to save him they are unable to, as this was the case for many soldiers during the war.
* The topic of death was not something those who went off to war experienced, many that went off to war have not experienced death, or were not ready to.
* The way Siegfried uses language in this quotation is, it sounds like he is describing a terrible rain storm but he is using this storm as metaphor for what is happening on the battle field which he reveals in the last part of the quote.
Jenny E said...
* The poem gives the readers a tense yet gloomy feeling.
* The poet tires to tell his readers about a solider who is dying, who is looking into the sunset right before his death. He is fully aware of his death, and probably will be treated as another corpse. He knows that his body would be buried in the mud like the previous bodies he has seen before. If he was lucky, his body would be discovered and possibly be buried without a name.
* The first like of the poem, “Dark clouds are smouldering into red” (Sassoon), has to be my personal favourite line. I had to read it over it at least 10 times to fully understand what Sassoon was trying to say.
* This is where he realizes that the war has been pointless and that there is no glory or fame that he was told to have.
* It scarred men for life, and violated their dignity. It was an inhumane act.
David S said...
* The poem in some ways seems to be written out of anger.
* As mentioned before it is clear that the warrior has no internal feeling of mercy, remorse and at least at this point in time no regret.
* Read also depicts the sense of sight in that, the warrior is still somewhat conscious but his eyes are wide open searching unconsciously almost as though warrior has lost all feeling and control.
* He begins in the first line by describing to the reader certain types of characteristics of this warrior using the five senses. Next he describes what this warrior wants to do, but is incapable of, which in this case is shrieking. In the next line Read yet again uses one of the five senses, then in the next line describes the warrior stabbing a Boche and then describing the Boche as “well killed.”
* I believe that the poet chose to write in this form mainly because Read’s main goal was to provide the reader with striking images and by doing it in the format he chose he did just that.
* The poet is trying to describe to the reader what a happy warrior is in reality and the answer to that is that the warrior is not happy at all.
* The warrior has turned into something that is quite the opposite of what we would consider happy, the warrior has turned into something that does not possess any qualities that are remotely similar to anything that would be considered human.
Ryan L said...
* The father is willing to sacrifice his son for a cause which is above what he can comprehend. This is shown when Abram is asked to kill his son Isaac and Abram, who is just blindly following his faith, does it even though he does not know why he is asked to kill his son.
* The message that Wilfred Owen is trying to convey to the readers is that Abram, the European countries, was willing to sacrifice their children (Isaac, boys and young men of the country) to a war.
Jackie L said...
* At the end of the poem the author says that once the war and killing is said and done that he hopes that God will take out of him this killing soul.
* The author also using words of emotion in the poem that in turn would evoke that emotion in the reader such as arrogance, resentment, and enmity.
* He calls war a curse and does not try and make war something that it is not; he does not make any false accounts to war. He tells the reader exactly what is real and what war is. There is nothing honourable about war and war should not be glorified.
Kimberly S said...
* The sense of seeing is used through out the poem because John McCrae’s poem is a description of something so you’re able to view an image in your head.
* When McCrae talks about the torch it symbolises that those who have died, did not get a change to finish their duty and the duty is passed down to the next group of men who come to fight for their country.
Mark C said...
* This poem can be considered as an ode because it is a lyric poem expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion. In other words, it is one of those poems devoted to the praise of a person, thing, or animal; written in an elevated style and often expresses deep feeling. In the case of this poem, praise is being given to the brave soldiers.
* As stated before, this poem is one of the series of patriotic poems written by Walter de la Mare.
* These ordinary men living their simple lives, can be considered courageous because they entered into a war knowing the great possibility of death to defend their country, their identity, and for what they believed in.
* Secondly, this is used as a transition period from comfort, to death and from death to honour and joy.
* Moreover, brilliant sequencing of ideas further backs this up. For example, grieve in the first line is comforted with believe in the third line, and died in the second line is comforted with glorified in the fourth.
Stephanie N said...
* This poem allows us a very brief insight into the life of a soldier at war. Displayed in the poem are the violence and the reality of life at war. I believe the poem attempts to display the reality of the war, the reality of the life of any soldier in the war.
* The descriptive settings and vivid descriptions of the battle that surround the soldier affect the reader subconsciously. As we are reading the poem we cannot help but to visualize the situation of the trenches, and hear the sounds of death that surround our soldier.
* The poem is trying to communicate to the reader the uncertainty and danger of a soldier’s life at war. He writes describing the filthy and treacherous state which the soldiers are forced to live and fight in. Sassoon implies to us that these soldiers were fighting to keep alive, not knowing when they would be predisposed into another casualty statistic.
* There is no propaganda in the way that he depicts war. He lets us know that there is no glory to war.
Chris F said...
* Furthermore, it gives the reactions of the soldiers based upon the sensationalized and biased reading that is being given to them. It speaks of how things are much better than they actually are and how the soldiers are doing just “fine”.
* This same idea is carried through the poem giving the sense that this war is not something that should be abhorred, but rather embraced due to the great expansion of wealth among the business owners. Likewise, it plays on how blissfully ignorant man can be when he chooses not to know anything.
* All the accomplishments were sensationalized, while the casualties became a footnote. The soldiers became pawns and were not appreciated as lives, but rather a means to an end.
Katie S said...
* This poem is different from other World War 1 poetry because it shows anger towards the leaders instead of showing patriotism for a country. It also focuses on the lives of those who did not risk their lives rather than the soldiers who did.
* He speaks of ‘leaders’ who are cowards, who never actually risk their lives and therefore never actually experience the Great War. The poem is about Majors of World War 1 who experienced luxuries during a time of war and could never understand the horrors of front line battle because they would be “Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel”.
* the Majors are ignorant about the seriousness of the battles in the war by calling it a “scrap”
* The message is clear when reading this poem because even with the time difference, this idea still applies, that our leaders are sending “glum heroes up the line to death”.
Linh H said...
* The war, in fact, leaves him a man whom is emotionally and physically destroyed. The poem in essence recounts the story of a million boys shattered by World War I.
* His poem “Disabled” is of rhyming verse and illustrates Owen’s personal experience with World War I and exemplifies his expectations of the “war to end all wars”. The poem is basically a story of a young man who enrolls in the army with mistaken assumptions that the war will return him home a respected and honoured soldier worth celebrating.
* The end of the first stanza also portrays a personification of sleep to a motherly quality. In this line, sleep is a sweet escape for the boys, but acts as a rescue for the man in order to free him from their presence. It is at this point, that I, as a reader felt that the man in the poem wished that sleep could also mother him from his suffering.
* Stanza three conveys the man’s brutal physical result due to the unforgiving nature of war. Through vivid imagery, the theme of loss is highlighted accompanied by a terminal line questioning the reason for wasting his life in battle.
* The poem must read continuously, taking caution not to break the ideas whenever there is a changeover in line or stanza. As rhyming is a dominant poetic device in Owen’s “Disabled”, it provokes the reader to carry on reading the poem without hesitation.
* This repetition of initial consonants in these lines helps the reader to remember the phrase which contained the alliteration. Alliteration in this poem links the two components together, giving more emphasis to what was being expressed.
* It is ironic that once the man has become a whole man he is treated as much less.
Angela S said...
* Furthermore, Hodgson also writes this poem as though he is praying to God. With this in mind, it appears as though he prays to God to prepare him for the horrors that he is about to face. That is, the gory reality of war.
* Within “Before Action”, he illustrates his joyous and care free life before the war. The poem also implies his high appreciation for his life previous to war. He also implies that his previous experiences of happiness and joy has not prepared him for the horrors that he is about to face.
* Thus, he prays to God that he will be able to face this reality with a fearless heart. By the last lines, he acknowledges the truth- that he is to be forever changed by this war and no matter what, his fate will be tragic.
* First, the theme acceptance is mirrored towards the end of the poem. The acceptation that he could possibly or will die, the acceptation that he may no longer experience “the delights” and the acceptation that he is not ready for this so therefore he must prepare.
* Hodgson fails to use the five senses to evoke certain reactions in the reader, however applies a high degree of visual imagery to stir the readers emotions.
* It portrays the idea that any other experience other than war was better than having to face the reality of warfare. In addition, he implies that all of his previous experiences along with most of the soldier’s did not prepare him for what he was about to face and that no matter what the circumstances, the Great War would change him forever.
Alex R said...
* “Men” tries to explain the horrors of war, the view point of the veterans, but since we are not in the age where the only warfare we see is on CNN, we cannot even grasp at what these veterans go through in their minds.
Jordan S said...
* It tells a story of what a soldier goes through at war. The poem may be the conscience of a soldier, telling him not to give up, and that there is hope.
Brittany L said...
* It is also about how those who do not go to war know nothing of the horrors it really brings and only cheer happily as young soldiers are being led to their deaths.
* By using these simple words he creates a feeling of straightforward truth where there is no idolization or attempts to romanticize the horrors of war.
* His use of repeating the ‘s’ sound within the last stanza gives even more power to the feeling of anger he has because it leads to the picture of hissing or spitting with anger. His word use of ‘by’, ‘sneak’, ‘never’ and ‘hell’ like said before are very forceful and are far more pronounced when read, yet by the end of the third stanza the words are not as forceful but seem more spiteful.
Robyn E said...
* This poem is about the outbreak of the First World War and the naivety of the young men, who left for war proud and enthused. These men were never to return home.
* The poem depicts the sorrow of both the biological mothers of the boys and the mother country of the soldiers. It is about the men who went to war for their country- full of patriotism and full of hope. These men were young, innocent and naïve to the horrors of war.
* It is a memorial piece, meant to remember the soldiers and to recognize that they still remain in present day through spirit.
* This line is about those young soldiers that were maimed one by one.
* There is a strong use of music to evoke the sense of listening in the reader. The music associated with marches, war drums and patriotism relate to the subject and reinforce the memorial aspect of the poem.
* Binyon also uses star symbolism to represent memories and courage that is everlasting. That, although they have passed, their spirit and their will live on through those that remember them, those that learn of them and those that come to be just like them.
* The society in which we live is taken for granted-, as are the people that fought for us to live this way. For in this society, there are not many that can say they “fell with their faces to the foe.”
Caley M said...
* This poem is about a man that was fighting in the war, it doesn’t specifically tell you how the five other men died but they died right beside him.
* It could have been by a firearm or explosive but the main point is that they died right beside him.
* you can never be seen or feel as normal once you come home from war, you feel dead inside but still your still very alive; wishing that you were shot on the battlefield as well with the other men.
* Being alive is torture because everyday is the same reoccurring experiences.
* When men came back from the war their souls were left out there never to be found again.
* What Wilfrid Gibson is trying to show the reader in this poem is that battling in war and war itself isn’t a peachy clean cut thing;
* Even though it’s as short as it is it was able to grasp the whole concept in those five paragraphs and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ghassan F said...
* Situations affect everything. That is what Sassoon tries to explain.
Adrian V said...
* I believe the poem is about the tragedy and lack of hope during the first world war.
Jenica A said...
* The flow of the rhythm however is broken up at the start of the second stanza, which functions to detail further the change, whether in thought or in the sudden occurrence of war.
* It is the worst enemy because everyone, from both rivaling armies, fight against death, but it is the worst friend as well because it can relieve you from the anguish and agony that war brings.
Fady A said...
* Many of them couldn’t grasp the reality of war.
* In the times of world war one (1914-1918) there was no media to show the rest of the world the horror these men lived through. Poetry was one of the only ways to give the people a visual aid to see what war was like.
* One of the greatest pictures I find the poet is illustrating for the readers is “Poppies whose roots are in man's veins” the atmosphere is shown where there are many bodies in the grown that flowers roots are growing through there veins.
Zack D said...
* I think this poem was to show the horror the reader of this poem was not able to witness.
* These words are descriptive words that imply a feeling or previous memory.
James Y said...
* In the end of the poem, the man comes to terms with himself when he says “though I must bear the blame, because he bore my name”. The man finally understands that the one who fought in the war was him but was not like him.
* The author is doing this to evoke sympathy and remorse. He is trying to make us understand how war changes people.
* The man has now come to terms with the fact that it was him fighting in the war but he was not “there” in the sense that it was him physically but not mentally.
* The poet, Wilfrid Gibson is trying to communicate to the reader that war can alter a man’s state of mind.
* When reading the poem, it helped me understand the degree to how war can change someone to the point where even he may not be able to recognize himself.
Kathryn B said...
* Owen breaks from the conventional form of poetry to signify society, seceding from being human, losing the human values and morals altogether.
* The Latin motto means: ‘it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.’ –something that Owen did not believe in after experiencing the promises of the war firsthand, and which explains why he called it “the old lie”.
Samantha C said...
* The poet uses simple language to put across a strong meaning and evokes a strong feeling in the reader.
Paula I said...
* Structuring her poem like in such a manner gives it a tune like a jingle and makes it catchy, which is what she was probably aiming for. It makes the poem giddy and exciting and gives it euphony which makes it sound pleasant. Since the purpose of the poem is to get young boys excited for the war its rhythm is perfectly suited because it lightens a very depressing subject.
* Her poem is an example of pro-war propaganda and many people are quick to criticize her for writing about something of which she is ignorant.
* Jessie Pope is trying to communicate the valor in standing up for your country.
* Her ideas were instilled in her by the patriarchal society she lived in, including those of the stereotypical brave solider man.
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