First World War Poets
The First World War poets were able to affect the emotions of their
readers. Choose two or more poems that have affected you in some way,
and analyse how the poets have achieved this affect.
The subject of war is a delicate one to write about. However, Wilfred
Owen expertly describes the horrors of conflict to his readers in a
way few are able to. He conveys images and uses language in ways that
can move the reader. In this essay I will look at two of his poems,
written during and after the war, and aim to discuss the methods Owen
uses in order to successfully influence the readers’ emotions.
After reading each of the poems, I felt I was able to recognize more
fully the suffering that the men on the front line endured. Although
the full extent of the terror of the trenches should never be seen
again, Owen’s writing gives a good idea of what war was like 90 years
ago. The poems moved me and sadden me, and also opened my eyes to the
horror of war.
The poems I will be studying are ‘Spring Offensive’ and ‘Futility’;
they differ from each other in a variety of ways but each communicates
a feeling of compassion for those who died in 1918. While one will use
perhaps horrific detail, another will use a milder and gentler method.
In answer to the essay title, I will show which techniques Owen uses
in each poem and how they move the reader.
The first poem I will look at is ‘Spring Offensive’. We can see from
the title that Owen may talk about conflict as ‘offensive’ suggests.
The opening line is one of sadness and imminent death, ‘Halted against
the shade of a last hill’. The use of ‘last’ implies that the men are
nearing the end of their lives and that the hill is that last one th...
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...suddenly they are
‘exposed’ to the ‘unseen bullets’ of the enemy machine guns. This also
makes the soldiers appear very brave, as they show little fear.
To conclude, I would say that ‘Spring Offensive’ is an exceptional
piece of writing that moved me greatly. I felt real sympathy and
sadness for the men that lost their lives for their country after the
officers threw them into the front line. This feeling is strengthened
through ‘Futility’, which makes the pointlessness of the War even more
apparent.
Owen uses rhythm and style to paint the terrible pictures of war in
order to rouse the reader into thinking about his ideas. His use of
rhetorical devices further reinforces his views on war and its
senselessness. Finally, his questioning of God and his way of making
nature appear all-powerful adds an effective twist to the overall view
of his writing.
this was to be the last. Throughout the procession there are mournful faces, but one
The word ash is repeated multiple times and represents feelings such as depression and death. The valley is becoming more and more of a waste land, the ash is taking over the farms and land which expresses that life in the valley can only be dull. There is nothing that isn’t covered by ash.
are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same
In the essay I hope to explain why I picked each poem and to suggest
...s work was always rich and full of details, complex contradictions. He appreciated everyone in his years of life. His most favorite thing while writing books and essays and poetry was using words to force his readers to rethink their own lives and obstacles creatively. He always spent his life rethinking his past and future actions, thoughts, asking questions to get a better understanding of concepts. He loved to look to nature for greater intensity and meaning for his life.
The poetry by these two poets creates several different images, both overall, each with a different goal, have achieved their purposes. Though from slightly different times, they can both be recognized and appreciated as poets who did not fear the outside, and were willing to put themselves out there to create both truth and beauty.
I have studied poems of World War II. I found that the poems fell into
The valley is described as a “desolate” place where “ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills into grotesque gardens”. (21) Ashes that dominate the area take the shape of natural greenery. The term “grotesque gardens” uses alliteration, with juxtaposition; to highlight the odd pairing of ashes and greenery. Ashes are associated with death while ridges and “gardens” represent the potential to flourish and grow in the promise and ideal of equality as in “the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams.” (143) The trees that once stood here were able to speak to man’s dreams, which allude to America, the land able to speak to man’s dreams and capacity for wonder. All this is replaced by grey ash that suffocates the inhabitants, restricting them to their social class. This presents a bleak image of hopelessness that surrounds the valley.
The next line expresses the way in which he has no grave stone, just a
No man wants to go to war and no government wants war but there are
About half-way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes---a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of grey cars cr...
in that time was able to see and accept the realities of war, so his
He may have used this technique to make war seem if it had made men
where every he falls during the war, no matter if it is in a shell
treatment of his people and of himself show up in his poems in both blunt and subtle