“In time of war” written by Lesbia Thanet, is also telling us how she feels about losing a loved one, but in this poem it tells us that she was glad that her boyfriend/husband was going to war because he would come back as a ‘hero,’ however he doesn’t come back at all. “As heroes’ women say, perchance,”
In, “At The Movies” the poet uses the adjective, “ghostly
white” to describe the men at war to be sad, bored and dull from when they used to be happy, cheerful and joyful. The word “dusty” shows the women the reality of war, it is also associated with death. Therefore the women are reminded about the deaths of their loved ones. As these films are 12 months old from when the poem was written it brings back memories of who they have lost. “Twelve months ago they marched into the grey / Of battle; yet again behold them pass!”
Mastin also brings in the past, “I meet his eyes, eager and young and bold.” The men were lively and youthful when they used to be with the women before the war (12 months ago). Then, “The picture quivers into ghostly white;” Masti is saying that the film changes and suggests something has happened to the man.
The last line, “Then I remember, and my heart grows cold!” is saying that she is upset because the films show what happened at the start of the war, so she is worried about what has happened or is happening to her family at that very moment and afterwards.
In “In time of war,” in the first stanza, the poet is saying she wants her man to go to war and return home a hero. But in the second stanza she realises what war does to people and that people die, and when she finds out her man has died she regrets sending him and wanting him to return as a hero. She prays to God that he will bring him back and this is repeated twice to emphasise the fact that she wants him back so much, “Only God Bring you back – God bring you back!”
“Go forth: do gloriously for my dear sake.” She wanted him to do glorious things, in this case fight for his country. “But now I render, blind with fear,” she didn’t want him to go after hearing everything about war. She complements him in the last stanza, “No lover made of dreams, but You,” the capital ‘Y’ emphasises that she is talking bout her boyfriend or husband.
In both poems the poets write that the women feel upset because there loved ones have died.
“At the Movies” is more about the women watching the films and being reminded about what happened to their families. Whereas “In Time of War” is more about the women regretting on sending her man to war, but it is too late and there isn’t anything she can do about it, after hearing about the things that happen to men at war.
