Explain how the poets of Happy is England Now in the anthology Up the Line to Death present World War I

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Osama Hamid L2

Explain how the poets of Happy is England Now in the anthology Up the Line to Death present World War I

The section Happy is England Now is situated at the start of the anthology, Up the Line to Death. In this section, the editor, Brian Gardner has arranged the six poems in such a way that it is clear these poems are largely pro-war. Therefore, most of the poems in the section uphold the stereotypical beliefs held by the public before and during the war. However, this is not always the case; with the inclusion of “Men Who March Away” (“Men…”) by Thomas Hardy, Gardner adds a poem whose stance towards the war is at the very least ambiguous. As a result, Gardner can show that he is not forgetting the real horrors of the war, horrors which are hardly mentioned in this section. This fact is very important to Gardner; in the introduction to the anthology, he describes the war as a ‘tragedy’. From this it can be seen clearly that Gardner wants to make sure the brutalities of the war are not forgotten and so with the inclusion of “Men…” he makes sure that everything is not as it seems. It is almost as if Gardner is trying to give a subtle hint to the reader as to what might follow in the rest of the anthology.  This is juxtaposed with the poems “Happy is England Now” (“Happy…”) and “England to Her Sons” (“England…”), which are very pro-war.

        The contextual nature of the poets can be looked at to determine the way they present war. For example, although Hodgson wrote “England…” before the war started, nevertheless he knew that he was going to go there and fight. As a result, the poem is more personal and has a different style compared to the other poems. This can be seen with the inclusion and acknowledgment of pain and suffering, which insinuates that Hodgson had at least some inkling of what he was going to face even though he had not faced it yet. Hardy and Freeman, on the other hand, never went to war as they were too old, so they had to write their poems from second hand knowledge; indeed Hardy wrote an earlier poem, “Charge of the Light Brigade” solely from information according to a newspaper article. As a result, these poems are more detached and with comparably less feeling behind them, which can be seen when analysing these poems in detail.

        Firstly, the poems “Happy…” and “England…” have many things in common which shows how they are used to present the war. The immediate noticeable thing is that England is personified in both poems. By doing this, the poets can make it seems as though soldiers going to war is something which is approved by England itself. As a result, this can be seen as a very pro-war stance, as the poets are encouraging people to go to war. Furthermore, by portraying England as a woman, “England to HER sons” the poems make it as though the soldiers are going to war to fight to save their motherland. Normally, sons are very protective of their mothers so by doing this; the poets reinforce the message that they are doing a duty when they fight. In “Happy…” a lot of natural imagery is used by Freeman, “… dark woods, green fields, towns…” This shows the beauty of England and what a wondrous place it is and therefore, it needed to be safeguarded from any attack. The fact this is conveyed as an asyndetic list reinforces the idea of the natural wonder and so is able to portray going to war as a positive thing. In contrast, “Men..” does not mention England at all; it is a more general poem about war, which perhaps makes it more ambiguous and shows that unlike the other poems, there is no positivity towards the war.

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        Another technique used to present the war in “Happy...” is the archaic and mythological language. By using words such as “destroying dragon”, along with the alliteration, it points to England’s great history and perhaps St. Georges defeat of the dragon. This highlights England’s rich heritage and so therefore makes it seem even more imperative that the soldiers’ should do all they can to preserve and safe-guard a land so steeped in wonderful history. This is mirrored by “England…” as well, by using archaic words such as “ye” and “giveth”, Hodgson is able to give a feeling of the history, much ...

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This is a thoughtful, well-structured essay, demonstrating genuine interest in the poems and World War One. Contextual knowledge is evident and usually used effectively, and there is some pertinent poetic analysis and knowledge of technical terminology. This could be improved by more detailed analysis of language, structure and form of the poems, and increased use of quotations which should be embedded fluently into the body of the essay.