'It is sweet and meet to die for your country' To what extent do you agree with this statement? You must refer to at least 3 poems, one of which was written before 1914, and one that is from another culture.

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‘It is sweet and meet to die for your country’

To what extent do you agree with this statement? You must refer to at least 3 poems, one of which was written before 1914, and one that is from another culture.

Since the world began the presence of anger between people presented war as the only answer to solve disputes. The history of our country, as well as the other countries of the world, is full of pain from the loss of so many lives from these devastating events. Society has taken into account the war tactics which were used and use them in real life to advertise products or, in some cases, to ruin people’s lives. Many tactics were used during the war through propaganda to recruit men and to convince the public that war was the best and only option against the opposing side. Newspaper articles, songs, posters and poems were among the tactics the army would have used to encourage men to join and fight for their country. Poems were written by very influential people to persuade the men to fight for their country. However, there were also poets who wrote against going off to war, for example, Wilfred Owen wrote from his personal experience to try and discourage men from joining up. I feel it is essential to consider these poems before deciding whether or not I agree with the statement above.

I plan to look at four poems two of which were written before 1914 and one which is from another culture. To understand more about their experiences and what view they have on war, I will look at the poetic devises used.

I have chosen three poems to study which give an interesting contrast of portraying their views, which are that war is not a virtuous business. The first poem I will study is, ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Tennyson which tells the story of six hundred brave British men who rode into a battle against the Russians which soon realised they could not win. It was written around the Crimean war period from 1854 – 1856 and the story behind the failed charge was a British commander who ordered the wrong order and sent the men to their deaths against the majority of the Russian army. Four hundred out of six hundred men died.

The second poem I shall study is, ‘The Drum’ by John Scott, a Quaker whose beliefs say that any violence is wrong. The poem was written about the war in 1782 against Napoleon and was written to discourage men from going to war. Scott explains that war is made out to be a brilliant experience where you get to wear a fancy uniform ‘Of tawdry lace, and glittering arms;’ but he explains, using various poetic devices, that war is monotony. It just goes round in circles.

The next poem I will study is ‘Dulce et Dercorum est’ by Wilfred Owen. The title, translated, means ‘It is sweet and meet’ which actually is an ironic title as the poem is meant to discourage men from joining the war to fight, or die, for their country. Owen describes, in vivid detail, his experiences of the war which bring a sense of realism to the fact that war causes so much pain and devastation to everyone that is involved.

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The final poem I will explore is, ‘Green Beret’ by Ho Thien. This poem is from a different culture than the first two and should add a contrast. It is about a Vietnamese boy who is captured by the American army and told to tell them everything they need to know or they will shoot his father. The little boy stands up for what he believes and does not tell the anything and his father is shot by the men.

The first poem that I read was ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Tennyson.  Tennyson creates ...

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