War Poems
The first poem is a pre-1900 poem written by Walt Whitman. It is
called "Come Up From The Fields Father". This poem tells the story of
how a family hear the news that their son has been wounded in battle.
Firstly it describes his sister receiving the letter and calling for
her father and mother. The poet then goes on to describe the settings
of the farm and the background to it.
"Where apples ripe in the orchards hang and grapes on the trellis'd
vines."
"The sky so calm……below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful."
He sets the scene of a peaceful beautiful place. I think he does this
for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think he does it just to set the
background to show the reader where the boy lived and what his family
were like. Another reason could be that he is showing to the reader
that these are just ordinary people who really have no interest in
fighting. However, I think the message that Walt Whitman is really
trying to portray, is the fact that everything is serene and going
brilliantly until this letter arrives. He is trying to get across the
idea that this war destroys normal families and stops them being
happy. It creates a sad and empty atmosphere for them. The mother
senses that something is wrong. She is shaking and is hurrying to see
what is in the letter. We see this as Whitman uses short, stopped
sentences, spoken quickly.
"Fast as she hurries, something ominous, her steps trembling."
As the mother gets the letter and realises that it is not her son's
handwriting, but a strangers. This makes her panic and gives her a
sickening feeling.
"O this is not our son's writing, yet his name is signed."
When she sees this, she fears it may be bad news about her son. It
shows that the woman is sad, crying and panicking as she hurries to
open the letter. She catches the main words of it only.
Portrayal of War in the Pre 1900 Poetry Before 1900, war was always seen as a glorious thing. People truly believed in the words of the ancient writer Horace, "Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori. " This phrase can be translated, as "It is a lovely and honourable thing; to die for one's country". Pre 1900 war poetry was strongly patriotic and glossed over the grim reality of death, preferring instead to display the heroic aspects of fighting. If death was mentioned, it was only in a noble and glorious context.
To this day the Vietnam War is still considered to be one of the most devastating wars in history and has been a topic of resentment to the American culture thirty-three years after its end. For the American public it’s marked as being the point in history where distrust in our government was at an all-time high, mainly because most of the war’s carnage was witnessed on television for the first time. For all the bloodshed American and Vietnamese soldiers suffered through, the war has left a perpetual mark not only on the United States but ultimately has left a permanent scar on the soldiers who fought and managed to survive the war. Renowned war poet, Bruce Weigl, like most young American men during the time was only nineteen when he participated in the war and fought for three years. The traumatic experiences he faced in the war and post-service back home in the United States helped him develop a distinctively emotional and explicit poetry which dealt bluntly with the atrocious images of Vietnam. When being interviewed by fellow poet and student of his, David Keplinger, Bruce openly states that, ““…it did not occur to me to write poems about the war for a long time. It was not exactly that it had not occurred to me, but I questioned why anyone would want to read about the war because it was already terrible enough” (Keplinger 141). With his time after the war, Weigl obtained his PhD. at the University of Utah and also made stops at Oberlin College and the University of New Hampshire prior to that. Weigl’s encounter with the war has enabled him to depict graphic illustrations of it and that effect seems to plod into the present. His work is highly saturated in the brutalities of Vietnam War and echoes that very sentiment.
War Explored in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and Leap to Freedom by Kasenkina
are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same
During the time period of the emancipation proclamation multiple black authors were becoming educated enough to write works of poetry. Such works have influenced and persuaded the minds of white people all over America to this very day. It also gave their own people a work of art to turn to for their own history. The poets have ventured into modern day eras also, and still have the same topics at hand. The main idea of these poetry pieces was on their ancestors in Africa but also of course of the modern problem of slavery. Langston Hughes was the first influential black poet. Lucille Clifton and Colleen McElroy are modern poets but is a black woman who has other views on slavery but also very similar looks on their historical past. All of the poets all mentioned their historical background in Africa. Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Colleen McElroy all wrote about their ancestors and of slavery, and some of the same references were of the rivers, and the connection between the people even though they are literally worlds apart; a difference between the poems was the desire for freedom and the freedom that was already existing in the modern day poetry of Lucille Clifton and Colleen McElroy.
if it is going to glorify the war and all the people who fought for
The Piano, The Tyger, War Photographer, The Lamb, In Mrs Tilscher’s Class, The Early Purges
of this for a very long time. He goes on to say '..From twilight to
The next line expresses the way in which he has no grave stone, just a
Considered the leading English poet of the First World War, Owen is remembered for realistic poems depicting the horrors of war, which were inspired by his experiences at the Western Front in 1916 and 1917. Owen considered the true subject of his poems to be "the pity of war," and attempted to present the true horror and realities of battle and its effects on the human spirit. His unique voice, which is less passionate and idealistic than those of other war poets, is complemented by his unusual and experimental style of writing. He is recognized as the first English poet to successfully use pararhyme, in which the rhyme is made through altered vowel sounds. Owen’s distinct way of both writing and reading poems led to influence other poets in the 1920s and 1930s.
into the war, but I think that I would rather be out of the fun than
He may have used this technique to make war seem if it had made men
World War I impacted poetry profoundly. Poets who served in the war were using poetry to share their horrific stories about the hardships they faced. These poets became known as “war poets.” They wrote about the traumatic, life changing experiences that haunted them once the war was over. Intense poems started emerging that portrayed the mental and physical struggles soldiers faced. Two examples of the impact that World War I had on poetry is seen in the poems “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “Repression of War Experience” by Siegfried Sassoon.
War has occurred in several occasions throughout history. We've had several important wars in the twentieth century, World War I and World War II, and Vietnam. Each and every war has had an effect on those who lived through it, and those who fought in it. Poets write about what effects, and inspires them. If they were soldiers in war they often times have a strong opinion of war. This comes out in their poetry. Seigfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke were English poets who both served in World War I. Sassoon, a true survivor of trench warfare, wrote, 'Everyone Sang'; protecting war. While Brooke, who did not see the trenches, wrote, 'The Soldier';, and a patriotic war-supporting poem. Each man wrote a splendid war poem, but each from different spectrums of war.
War consumes the youth of young men and completely alters a person. From numerous poems, it is made clear that war exhausts the youth of young men, and has left their lives with no meaning. These poems are “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Mental Cases” written by Wilfred Owen. Similarly, they both employ the same techniques, such as similes and metaphors. However, a somewhat different perspective is projected through the poem “In Flanders Field” by John McCrae, which dissimilitudes yet intensifies the main message. Whether from a more emotional perspective or from a physical view, war has devastated the prime time of many young men in multitudinous ways.