World War One Poetry
War poetry conveys a number of different messages, being anti-war, the
ideas of chivalry and glamour involved in the fight, and poems trying
to recruit young men into the war are all common, especially in WW1.
There are many poets from this time who use these ideas a lot in their
poetry, I will be looking at five of them in detail, Jessie Pope,
Rupert Brooke, Arthur Graeme-West, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.
Who's For the Game? By Jessie Pope is a recruitment poem, aimed at
young men, glamorising war to a degree that it classifies it as a big
game. There is a recurring theme in the poem of spectators and
participants, whilst also using rhetorical questions, 'Who wants a
turn to himself in the show?/And who wants a seat in the stand?' would
be a very good way to get young men, already surrounded by the
propaganda in the newspapers, radio stations, and posters, to sign up
into the army. However in the third stanza there is a realisation that
war is not 'a game' and that there would be injuries, although it also
portrays a 'wounds heal' approach, as there is no mention of possible
death, 'Who would much rather come back with a crutch/Than lie low and
be out of the fun?'. There is also a great reference to the community
of soldiers, British people, 'Your countries up to her neck in a
fight/And she's looking and calling for you.' Which also uses
personification, to make England look as though it is a 'damsel in
distress' who needs rescuing from these young strong men.
Peace by Robert Brooke is a chivalric poem that uses the idea of death
as the eternal rest that everyone is searching for, and how gallant it
would be to die for your country. Also the idea that death may be
painful but a soldiers death will be courageous and lead straight to
heaven like a saint, '…the worst friend and enemy is but Death.' There
is also a great feeling that a soldier's life has been building up to
Many poets use different literary devices in poems to express their ideas and thoughts in an artistic way.
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.
homes. But the way in which each of the poets express this occurrence, with the use of
are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same
The Vietnam War started in 1945 resulting in almost 60,000 American deaths and nearly two million Vietnamese deaths, according to Mintze. The United States became a financial backer to Vietnam and tried to assist South Vietnam from the communist North. The Viet Cong, a communist led guerilla group, began to fight South Vietnam in 1958. This led to American soldiers being sent into Cambodia to destroy communist supply bases. The Vietnam War is also known as the longest battle in American history (Mintze).
Post 1900 War Poetry By looking at several war poems written before and after 1900, I can see that many elements of the types of poetry change greatly in several ways. I will be looking at a selection of war poems written by three different poets, in chronological order, so as to see if the attitudes to war and writing styles change over time or during various stages of the war. Firstly I will be looking at a poem written by Alfred Tennyson about the charge against the Russian gunners in 1854. The poem is called "The Charge of the Light Brigade" as it is exactly what happened.
Going to War The arrival of winter is well on its way. Colorful leaves had turned to brown and fallen from the branches of the trees. The sky opened to a new brightness with the disappearance of the leaves. As John drove down the country road, he was much more aware of all his surroundings.
was right up to my knees and there was nothing I could do about it. A
I do not know how without being culpably particular I can give my Reader a more exact notion of the style in which I wished these poems to be written, than by informing him that I have at all times endeavored to look steadily at my subject; consequently, I hope that there is in these Poems little falsehood of description, and my ideas are expressed in language fitted to their respective importance. Something I must have gained by this practice, as it is friendly to one property of all good poetry, namely, good sense; but it has necessarily cut me off from a large portion of phrases and figures of speech which from father to son have long been regarded as the common inheritance of Poets.
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.
Throughout history, poets had experimented with different forms of figurative language. Figurative language allows a poet to express his or her meaning within a poem. The beauty of using the various forms of figurative language is the ability to convey deep meaning in a condensed fashion. There are many different figures of speech that a poet can use such as: simile, paradox, metaphor, alliteration, and anaphora. These examples only represent a fraction of the different forms, but are amongst the most well-known. The use of anaphora in a poem, by a poet, is one of the best ways to apply weight or emphasis on a particular segment. Not only does an anaphora place emphasis, but it can also aid in setting the tone, or over all “feel” a reader receives from a poem. Poets such as Walt Whitman, Conrad Aiken, and Frances Osgood provide poems that show how the use of anaphora can effect unity, feeling, and structure of a poem.
What is Wilfred Owen’s attitude towards Worlds War 1 and how is this shown through his poetry?
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.