Route March Rest by Vernon Scannell, Night Raid by Desmond Hawkins,

Route March Rest by Vernon Scannell, Night Raid by Desmond Hawkins,

The Battle by Louis Simpson - How do the poets communicate emotional

or moving responses to war?

What do these poems tell us about wartime life and the thoughts and

feelings of civilians and soldiers?

How do the poets communicate emotional or moving responses to war?

The following essay will try to answer the question above. Using

references and quotes from three wartime poems I will explain what

they tell us about wartime life and the thoughts and feelings of

civilians and soldiers. I will also clarify how the poets communicate

emotional and moving responses to the disturbing war. The three poems

that will be analysed are:

· Route March Rest - by Vernon Scannell,

· Night Raid - by Desmond Hawkins,

· The Battle - by Louis Simpson.

I have selected these poems because they contain both similarity and

contrast. These aspects are important in order to produce a

high-quality essay as they provide a more balanced view of the poems.

Both the contrasts and similarities will be shown to give the reader a

clearer overview of the poems.

The three poems, as mentioned above, have all been written during

wartime and therefore display hatred towards the fighting. However,

they demonstrate this dislike using different methods. Vernon

Scannell's technique in Route March Rest is important as he uses

contrasting images and descriptions to create an overall picture of

death and dismay. Scannell does this by initially introducing a scene

of harshness using such tough words as "skulls", "thumping",

"crunched" and "clanked". He then smoothes the picture out by creating

a more calmed and restful atmosphere using such soft words as "silent,

cool" and "bright as buttercups". But this is short lived as the

marching image is reintroduced and the word "die" is placed at the

end. Desmond Hawkins technique in Night Raid is very unique as it is

done using completely free verses. At the start, strange characters

are introduced which immediately creates anxiety. Harsh sentences such

as "If there's a bomb made for YOU, You're going to get it" highlight

the feelings of distress and misery present in all of the various

people. War is also displayed negatively using this sentence: "She was

shivering and laughing and throwing her head back". People would not

normally be doing this and so it makes the reader link disease-like

behaviour with war. Louis Simpson's technique in The Battle is

fascinating as he uses repetition, onomatopoeia, tempo and colours to

produce an "anti-war" description. The three poems are similar as they

are all about the negative aspects of war, but they differ in terms of