Another poem that is similar to this poem is ‘Happy is England Now’. This poem also portrays England as a Mother. “Her faithfullest children”, like ‘England to Her Sons’ the people of England are being portrayed as being the “children” of England; England being the Mother- Britannia.
In addition, ‘Fourth of August’ also personifies England. Though ‘England to Her Sons’ is personified as it is giving England a voice, in ‘Fourth of August’ the poet is saying that the ‘dear earth’ (England) ‘bore’ him. However, both poems personify England in saying that it gave birth to the people. In ‘Fourth of August’ the poet says it, and in ‘England to Her Sons’ the voice of Britannia is saying it, “All the noblest of the children I in love and anguish bore.”
In ‘England to Her Sons’ the poet, which in this case is the voice of England, has a positive attitude towards war. The poet talks to her “sons” and tells them that they are “steeled to suffer uncomplaining”. “Steeled” meaning built, and we know that steel is really strong, so in this context it could mean that they are built strong mentally, so that they can “suffer uncomplaining”. To “...suffer uncomplaining” could mean that the soldiers fighting and killing during war is not wrong, which is like ‘Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria mori’. This means that it is sweet and fitting to die for your country, and that’s what the voice of the poem is saying.
The voice of the poem also thinks that cowardice is not acceptable. The Mother Britannia is ‘talking’ to her “children”, saying that they should be “Free in service, wise in justice/ Fearing but dishonour’s breath”. “...dishonour’s breath” being cowardice.
Another poem which has a similar attitude to war is ‘Fourth of August’; this also has a positive attitude to war. In this poem however, the voice of the poem is a soldier. He talks about the soldiers going to war like they were going “into the grandeur of” their “fate”. “...grandeur” meaning grandness, and he calls their fate grand. Similarly to ‘England to Her Sons’, this poem is also saying that it is right to go to war. Again it is like ‘Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria mori’.
In ‘England to Her Sons’, various language and techniques are used. Religious allusion is used in the last stanza, “Go, and may the God of battles...Unto His beloved sleep”. Lines 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the last stanza all contain religious allusion. The ‘He’ and ‘His’ is the God being mentioned, which in this case is the Greek God of battles.
Another poem which uses religious allusion is ‘From Men who March Away’. This poem mentions the soldiers ‘faith’, “Hence the faith”. This phrase is repeated twice in the second stanza, which makes it more significant and important; so it makes me think that religion was really important to the soldiers going to war.
‘England to Her Sons’ also uses alliteration. It uses it once in the last stanza, “...good guidance”. The alliteration makes the last stanza sound more preachy, which has many religious references.
Many poems from the same section also use alliteration. ‘The Call’ uses it several times throughout the poem. “...frost and flame”, which is also an oxymoron, because you have the frost (cold) and flame (hot). There is also “swift sun’s” and “summer’s stealthy”, which all give a rhythm to the poem.
Another poem which uses alliteration is ‘Fourth of August’. “...peril purified” is used at the end of the first stanza, which makes it sound more dramatic, also because of the pause full stop and then end of the stanza.
‘Happy is England Now’ also uses alliteration in the first stanza. “...destroying Dragon”, this makes it sound slightly comical.
In conclusion, I believe that ‘England to Her Sons’ is really typical to the poems in that section of the anthology. It had the same themes and ideas as a couple of poems in that same section. Also the poet’s attitude to war in ‘England to Her Sons’, could be compared to a poem from that section. The language and technique used in ‘England to Her Sons’, however, were really typical to the poems in that section, and could be compared to several poems.
