Compare And Contrast Anzac And Who's For The Game By Jessie Pope

The two poems ‘Anzac’ by John Brereton and ‘Who's for the Game?’ by Jessie Pope are both written around the time of World War I. The two poems contain both differences and similarities in how they convey attitudes to war some ways that this is achieved are language, structure and the themes of the poems.
One way the two poems differ is in the theme and tone of the poems. In Jessie Pope’s poem she has produced war propaganda which is designed to encourage people to go to war. This means that she is unlikely to talk negatively about war. As shown in the poem by the quotation ‘who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘go’?’ This implies that the war is a race because the signal ‘go’ is often associated with the start of a race. Furthermore, the

‘Who's for the Game?’ is 15 lines while ‘Anzac’ is 22 lines. This may be a metaphor as Brereton might be suggesting, in his poem ‘Anzac’, that the war is long. Whereas ‘Who's for the Game?’ is a much shorter poem suggesting that Pope was trying to show that the war will be short and over soon which fits with propaganda as more people will be happy to fight if they think the war will be over soon. These two poems also have different rhyme schemes with ‘Who's for the Game?’ using an ABAB rhyme scheme, rhyming words every other line, while ‘Anzac’ uses an AABB rhyme scheme, rhyming words in pairs. The rhyme scheme in ‘Who's for the Game?’ rhymes lines that are associated with bravery such as ‘who’ll give his country a hand?’ with lines that imply fear ‘and who wants a seat in the stand?’ This technique makes the reader compare the two options with the bravery on obviously being sensationalised to encourage people to join the war. However one similarity between the two poems is that they are both one long stanza. As you can see the two poems differ in rhyme scheme and length which means that they can create different tones to the

While in the poem ‘Who's for the Game?’ by Jessie Pope euphemistic language is used, which can be illustrated by the description of war as a ‘show.’ This is an example of euphemistic language as shows are form of entertainment that many aspire to perform in. Furthermore, shows are often associated with glamour and luxurious lifestyles. This shows how the poet wants to portray this poem has fun for everybody. This shows how Pope feels that war is an enjoyable experience which is family friendly like most shows. Additionally, the poet uses multiple poetic techniques such as personal address ‘And she’s calling for you.’ The poet also uses other techniques such as metaphors, by describing the war as a game. The use of these techniques show how Pope wishes to spread the message, war is great, to all those around her. On the other hand the poem ‘Anzac’ by John Brereton uses dysphemistic language to create a depressing atmosphere. This can be illustrated by the quotation ‘Their own hearts drummed them to the fight.’ This example shows how John feels that the war was scary. This is implied by the fact that a heart beating hard against the chest, like a drum, is a reaction often associated with fear and anxiety. In addition to this Brereton also uses other poetic techniques such as onomatopoeia shown by the quotation ‘clang’, assonance which can be illustrated by this quotation ‘noble hope’ and repetition depicted by