Discuss the change from patriotic fervour to angry disillusionment as reflected in the poetry of the First World War.

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Karuna Bhanderi                                                                                                  May 2002

Discuss the change from patriotic fervour to angry disillusionment as reflected in the poetry of the First World War.

In 1914 Britain entered the First World War. It also became known as ‘The Great War’ and was believed to be the war to end all wars.

        The nation was under the impression that the war would be over by the Christmas of 1914. However it continued for four long and harrowing years. It witnessed the passing of thousands of young soldiers, pinning for glory.

        The coming of the war brought about the revival for writing war poetry. Initially writers wrote patriotic poetry which portrayed courage and heroism. It was often written as propaganda, to encourage men to enlist in the war effort. Examples of propaganda writers are Jessie Pope and Herbert Asquith, who were both published poets. The people at home were unaware of the horror experienced at the front line. All letters home from the soldiers were censored – all the feelings, the cold and the constant reminders of death were removed.

        However when shell-shocked soldiers returned and injured soldiers returned , the news of the true brutality of war spread through the nation. Poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon revealed the truth through their beautiful and moving poetry.  

        Early in the war, war poets were enthusiastic and patriotic. No-body had really experienced the war and each held their own image of what it was like. Many viewed the war  as just a big ”game” and as Jessie Pope called it ’the biggest that’s played’. Early poetry promoted war as glory and the honour associated with fighting for your country. In this way the people at the home front were convinced that he war was “just” and that they were right. The enemy were regarded with effervescent loathing and the war was presented as a crusade for good.

        In ‘The Volunteer’ by Herbert Asquith he tells of a clerk with a mundane existence who enlists in the war effort in search of fulfilment. Asquith suggests he had ‘no lance broken in life’s tournament’. We find the clerk feels his life is empty and void because he has had no impact on the world around him. In this way Asquith makes the reader feel as if their ordinary lives are unimportant and that they should enlist. When joining the effort and dying for his country he ‘lies in content’ and his’ waiting dreams are satisfied. So in death he is ‘content’ because he felt by joining the war effort and dying for his country he was fulfilled and was needed.

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        Roger McGough describes patriots as ‘a bit nuts in the head’. After the war many people agreed and war poetry became more truthful and realistic  as soldiers returned from war with their terrifying stories. People became angry and disillusioned as they felt the government had been lying to them. They had been encouraged to join the war effort when all it would bring them was pain. They were told it was great to fight for your country even if you lost your life. The war poetry followed suit. It too became angry and  forceful, depicting details of torture which the ...

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