Comparing Spring Offensive and Into Battle These are two poems written during the First World War by two serving soldiers. They use their own experience of war, their personal and family backgrounds and their previously held beliefs in writing these powerful poems, both of which were published during the conflict. The first poem 'Spring Offensive' was written in 1917 by Wilfred Owen and the second 'Into Battle' by Julian Grenfell was completed in 1915. These poems used the contrast between the new life of spring, with the promise of warmer days to follow and the destruction and brutality of death on the battlefield. In Owens' poem he uses spring as a short introduction to the scene and leads quite suddenly into the horror of death on the front line. He leads the reader into a calm situation where tired soldiers rest before they move forward. The soldiers do not have a care in the world e.g. 'watched the long grass swirl' and 'hour after hour they pondered the warm field' These first verses are a powerful statement by Owen describing nature and all the lovely things it provides e.g. 'warm fields and buttercups'. He then switches the mood dramatically as 'suddenly the whole sky burned with fury against them' to bring the reader quickly into the fury of the battlefield. Grenfell also used the idea of spring but continued with the theme all the way through the poem to the end. He does this because he thinks of war as glorious where everybody has a good time ' It is like a big picnic - it's all the best fun one ever dreamed of' (taken from a letter he wrote to home). Grenfell used the soldiers to express the energy and strength of nature, reflecting the power and growth of spring around, as they approa... ... middle of paper ... ...an feelings, which creates a good picture in your mind. I think that 'into battle' is a more attractive poem because it bypasses all the bad things about war. It tries to make you concentrate on the good side. Grenfell uses a lot of nature to try and keep his poem attractive and interesting. When the soldiers die he says that it is not a bad thing because nature will still look after you. Grenfell saw war in a totally different way to Owen. I think that 'Spring Offensive' is more convincing because it tells you the real facts and thoughts about war. It still uses the attractive side of nature at the beginning, but soon gets onto the more serious side about the battle. It says what the soldiers are thinking about. They are thinking about death and hell and what it is like. The images that Owen creates are very clear, which helps me to imagine the poem.
There are many things in this world that are impossible to understand without first hand experience.This can be especially irritating for people who have the knowledge, but see everyone else with the wrong idea. Philip Larkin and Wilfred Owen show this in their poems about the common misconception of war glorification. Through imagery and the use of similes, they explain what it's really like for a person to go into battle. To outsiders, fighting in war is a noble cause worthy of envy and praise, but from the inside perspective the only thing war does is take away the innocence of
From the very first word of the poem, there is a command coming from an unnamed speaker. This establishes a sense of authority and gives the speaker a dominant position where they are dictating the poem to the reader rather than a collaborative interacti...
through the pile of ashes that once used to be his poems. This part of the poem symbolizes
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a constant battle between death and love.
What is war really like all together? What makes war so horrifying? The horror of war is throughout All Quiet on the Western Front. For example Albert says the war has ruined them as young people and Paul agrees. “Albert expresses it: "The war has ruined us for everything." He is right. We are not youth any longer. We don't want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing. We fly from ourselves. From our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war.” (Remarque, Chapter 5). The way the war has affected each soldier has changed them forever. The boys who were once school boys will never be the same.
This change in tone echoes the emotions and mental state of the narrator. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator starts somewhat nervous. However, at the end, he is left insane and delusional. When he hears a knocking at the door, he logically pieces that it is most likely a visitor at the door.
He uses powerful imagery and onomatopoeia to achieve the desired effects that make the poem more realistic. All this combined together produces effective thought provoking ideas and with each read, I gradually get an improved understanding and appreciation of the poem.
The word 'Heart' is used a lot in the poem. This is to show his love
In the end of the narrator’s consciousness, the tone of the poem shifted from a hopeless bleak
War, what is it good for? Some would say absolutely nothing. This is the recurring theme in protest songs from the 1960’s through present day. This essay will show by comparing and contrasting songs from the Viet Nam era with the present day songs protesting war and the senselessness of going to war. The end result invariably is death for both sides. All of the songs, regardless of the setting and time focus on senseless death.
Also it is comparing the war to a game, which is a euphemism as well as a metaphor. It is a euphemism because war is a very serious, dangerous matter; whereas a game is something that people enjoy and never get seriously injured in. By using this euphemism, Jessie Pope - the poet – lessens the severity of war, and makes her readers’ think of it as enjoyable, and something that they want to do.
...oolish, and War is a waste. War is brother, War is dad, War is mother crying, and War is sad. War is death, War is tears, and Wars don't end. They last for years!
is an honor to die. The poet in the Into Battle talks about life in a
Towards the end of the poem , he starts sounding like the optimistic Hughes we all have come to know and love.
sense of closeness to the topic of his poem. In the very beginning of the poem we