Compare and contrast recruitment poems with those written in the trenches of World War I

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Shurreen Miles

English c/w

10.4

Compare and contrast recruitment poems with those written in the trenches of World War I

World War 1, was the first war to involve as many countries as it did, the war lasted over 4 years between the years of 1914 and 1918. Throughout these years a recruitment campaign took place to recruit more soldiers as many had already been killed. Many posters with catchy slogans were placed around all the cities promoting the glory of fighting for your country. Many young men were ready and waiting to be brave and serve their country in this great war and signed up eagerly, there were also recruitment poems to help recruit. Most of these poems glamorised the war to make it inviting, and also would make the reader feel guilty for not wanting to fight for his country. Many of these recruitment poems had a spot in the local newspaper as they rhymed and consisted of a good rhythm that meant they were easy to remember. But really the poems were just luring people into a false sense of security, leading them to believe that they would have an exciting experience at war and would return home safely. Poets such as Jessie pope and Harold begbie wrote these poems.

 “Who’s for the game” written by Jessie pope is a very typical recruitment poem. It consists of an AB rhyme all the way through, the reason behind this rhyme is too make the poem sound happy and fun, there are also a number of rhetorical questions in the poem, for example “who’ll give his country a hand? ”. The title of the poem suggests war is a game, the line “the red crashing game of a fight” is also another example of this, this is to encourage more young men to sign up. The lines “who wants a seat in the stand” and “who’d think he’d rather sit tight” are used too make the reader feel guilty if not to take part in the war. The final lines try to portray that the men who don’t fight for their country are selfish and a disgrace to the country. Also whenever the word “country” is used his or yours is written before it, as if to say that the country belongs to the reader, and it’s their duty to defend it.

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“Fall in” written by Harold begbie is written to make the reader feel ashamed about not taking part in the war, it was very popular it was put on posters and it was even sang to music. The poem has an ABABCDCD rhyming pattern which keeps the poem going, the poem suggest that the readers life will lack if the don’t participate in the war. The poet is always reminding the reader of how he would be letting the country down if not to help. It also uses the line “a girl who cuts you dead” implying that the ...

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