There was such an affinity with Patriotism that by reading just this one line men would want to join the war because who doesn’t want to help their countries. Jessie Pope also feels that war is a big show and the people who stay at home are just the audience and not part of this show. She thinks people who stay at home are in the stand in a football match.
“Who want’s to turn to himself in the show?
And who wants a seat in the stand.”
Jesse Pope thought of war as a mindless riot and the only motivation for men going to war was to shot someone and hold a gun and this is shown when Jessie Pope writes:
“Yet eagerly shoulders a gun.”
Jessie Pope thinks that men would want to come back with a crutch or some injury as that would be their souvenir from war she thinks that every man would want an injury rather than lying in the trenches and being out of the so called fun. Jessie Pope also thinks that men who have come back unscathed from war didn’t have any fun. She thinks wars all fun and games.
“Who would much rather come back with a crutch
Than lie low and be out of the fun?”
“Your country is up to her neck in a fight,
And she is looking and calling for you.”
Jessie Pope repeats the word Who? Because she is questioning us and in the final two lines of the poem she tells us who this who is and its You. She uses the word you to emphasise who she is talking to. In these two lines the emphasis is on as war being every mans duty. She refers to the country as being feminine because as it is every mans duty to protect their women it is also therefore every mans duty to protect their country. Throughout the poem she uses simple language so that everyone can understand it and therefore it will have a widespread effect reach the masses. The poem is written so you feel that Jessie Pope is speaking to you and therefore has immediate effect. Jessie Pope was endeavoured with idea war is a game play it if you are a man. As the poem was published in the Daily Mail it would have been read by tens of thousands of people. The atmosphere of the poem is cosy which is totally opposite to war. The poem is not threatening at all and is inviting men to go to war. I feel when men would read this poem they would be intimidated so much they would feel it is their duty as being men to help their country. The poem would have probably been read with a buoyant and upbeat tone of voice. I feel that Jessie Pope was disillusioned about war and felt she could explain war without experiencing it.
Another poem which written by Rupert Brooke also deals with patriotism and the poem is called The Soldier. The Soldier is written by a man who is extremely patriotic. When you read the poem who feel that it is worth dying for your country and that is one of the points that Rupert Brooke is trying to convey. This is clearly shown when he writes:
“If I should die think only this of me:
That there is a corner of a foreign field
That is forever England”
We can see that dying for England is all that matters. In the opening lines you cam see that England is shown as being the greatest nation above any other country or his own life. He also say’s that if he dies on a foreign field not only will that foreign field become richer but also part of England. He feels that he is part of England and therefore if England needs a part to die for conserving England than so be it.
“There shall be
in that rich earth a richer dust concealed”
Rupert Brooke also believes that England created him and therefore England is his mother and father and he owes England his life and by fighting for England he is just paying back his debts. This is shown when he say’s
“A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware.”
Rupert Brooke sees England as idyllic and tranquil and also he talks about his love for his motherland. Rupert Brooke feels by fighting for England he is giving something back. This is shown when he writes:
“Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given.”
Rupert Brooke feels proud by defending his country on the battlefield. I feel though it may convey fighting for your country as being your duty it is written from the heart and therefore can again have a widespread effect. The language is also quite simple so it can be read by the masses. The poet also goes on to describe dying in England as dying under an English heaven and this therefore describes England as being heavenly.
“At hearts a peace, under an English heaven.”
This poem is very atmospheric and also very tranquil and therefore can have and prevalent effect on people. The poem is also very deep and deals with gratitude and patriotism. This poem would have probably effected many people has they would have felt as it was their responsibility to help England. England was portrayed in the poem as being perfect and therefore it was every mans duty to protect perfection thus protecting their country.
As war progressed the feeling of patriotism demised and this happened as the death toll was escalating. People came out of this disillusionment that war is all things great and glorious and began to take in the realities of war it was harder to comprehend the ideals of patriotism and duty. When soldiers returned they spoke from experience and therefore the reality of war and poetry was written to explain WAR and how it is. One of the soldiers who became a poet was Wilfred Owen.
Dulce Et Decorum Est was written by Wilfred Owen who fought in the First World War. This poem is like an account of the things, which Wilfred Owen saw and went through. Wilfred Owen talks about how harsh war is and also how hard it is. This is shown in the opening lines:
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”
Wilfred Owen goes on to talk about also how committed men were and also how brave they had to be to survive this horrific predicament. He talks about how men had to walk asleep and also how men had to limp blood shod .He also tells us how men went deaf after the continuos gas shells exploding. Wilfred Owen says the gas shells dropped softly behind because they were unable to hear the full impact, as they had become so to put it deaf.
“Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on blood-shod. All went lame; all blind:
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas shells dropping softly behind.”
He also speaks about how unexpectedly things happened like the gas shells exploding and also how important it was to be on guard. Wilfred Owen writes that a man was unable to put on his helmet and started floundering and this word is usually used to describe fish when they are out of water. He describes a man drowning under a green sea he describes the sea as being green because it was full of gas, when you read this the images you get are striking as well as being ghastly.
“And floundering like a man in a fire or lime
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light.
As under a green sea him drowning.
Wilfred Owen also describes how he sees a man die in front of him because he had not put his gas mask on he uses words such as drowning and choking so we get a full impact of what is happening a man drowning in a sea of gas.
“His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs.
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud.”
These four lines describe the man who had just died. He uses words such as Devils sick of sin to say that the mans face was worse than the devils sins and he says that blood came gargling this means that the blood came pouring out. Wilfred Owen uses an incurable disease like Cancer to describe the situation and I think that Wilfred Owen is trying to say that war is incurable and nothing can be bitter as cud and therefore war is also the bitterest thing.
The last four lines of Wilfred Owens poem is addressed to Jessie Pope to tell her what war is. He feels that war is not glorious at all quite the contrary. What Wilfred Owen is saying that don’t tell children for some glory the old lie that war is a glorious thing. In those days women used to tell their son’s husbands say if you don’t fight in the war what will you tell your children and this used to make men feel guilty and fight in the war, what Wilfred Owen is saying that don’t tell your children it is your duty to fight and die for your country neither is it glorious. Wilfred Owen is also saying that don’t tell your children about war with such high enthusiasms because it is nothing to be enthusiastic about.
“My friend, you would not tell with high zest
To children ardent for some desperate Glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
Another poem, which also dealt with the reality of war, is called Suicide In the Trench and is by Siegfried Sassoon. This poem talks about a young boy who went to war. I feel that this poem deals with how people ought to change their conception of war and stop feeling that every young man has to go and fight for his country. In the opening lines of the poem the poet describes a boy who he knew who smiled at life without any joy.
“I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy”
The hardships of war are also described in this poem the lonesome dark and the winter cold but this did not seem to effect this small soldier he is happy and has no problems. This boy did not seem phase with any of the problems.
“In winter trenches, cowed and glum
And whistled early with lark”
The poem however does take a sudden and unexpected turn as in the seventh line we find out that this boy shot himself through the head.
“He put a bullet through his brain
No-one spoke of him again.”
The poet uses shock tactics to get his point across. There is no prologue to his death it just happens. These shock tactics represent the shocks of war anything can happen at any time. You could be sitting in the trenches when suddenly someone puts a bullet through their brains.
The last main point of the poem is made in the last verse. It say’s:
“You smug faced crowds
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know,
The hell where youth and laughter go
This is a undeviating attack who pretend to support the war effort but in reality are glad that it’s not them dodging the bullets. This poem is also against mass propaganda as the poem involves a young boy who went to war and committed suicide through despair. He probably went to war due to the propaganda and ended up killing himself for this so called glorious and honourable cause.
In conclusion this essay has enlighten me on many of the things which took place before and after the war. It has shown me how this exploitation of patriotism counted for so many people joining up to fight in the war. Being patriotic became ‘cool’
Which is wrong patriotism is a feeling you get from having love for your country not through seeing posters and reading poems about war. Feelings such as patriotism and duty were roused through mass propaganda. I also learned that people who haven’t experienced war should not encourage men to join up e.g. Jessie Pope she shouldn’t explain what she has not experienced. The feel of patriotism that was created was fickle because it was creates through media and lies and not through self believes. When men such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon came back and described their experiences of war this fickle feeling of patriotism was diminished for good. People were disillusioned through this propaganda. The propaganda was a necessity otherwise men would not have joined up for the war I personally feel that people should be told about the realities of war no matter whether they are horrid and vile if a person really is patriotic and loves their countries they will join up no matter what.
