This poem in general is very pro-war and talks a lot about the how the Assyrians slaughtered their foes. It has a very old fashion view on war, we can tell that this is not a modern poem by the style that it was written in as there are rhyming couplets at the end of each sentence. At the end of the poem the rhythm slows significantly to put even more emphasis on the complete annihilation of the opposing army, whereas through out the rest of the poem the rhyming rhythm is very strong and obviously leading up to the battle.
A man called Wilfred Owen wrote the poem Futility. From the beginning we get an idea of this poem is going to be like, the title futility means hopelessness. This poem is more modern that The Destruction of Sennacherib, war is now about mass destruction, each death is of no importance anymore. In the first stanza of this sonnet things are much more calm, he uses words like gently, whispering and kind, this stanza has a lot of positive imaginary and the tone is quite bright, Owen portrays this through the different types of language he uses. However when we begin to read the second stanza he begins to use more dark and depressing images. He begins to ask God why he even created the world if it was going to end up like this. This is where we begin to see the reasons for him naming the poem futility; he now thinks that things are now hopeless for the solider he talks about, not even the kind old sun that he talks about in the 1st stanza can revive him now.
Originally a sonnet was written about love and emotions, this was the first ever sonnet written about war, during the early 20th century many poets where rebelling over the 19th century views on war. In this poem Owen comments on how war is futile and accuses God of allowing this war to even happen.
Richard Eberhart wrote the Fury of Aerial Bombardment, it was written about the Second World War and all the new technology that was used in it. In the poem he refers to Cain who was the first ever person to murder, this would suggest that the author believes that all the war is, is mass murder and that God no longer has any control over what’s happening, nor does he care “You would feel that after so many centuries God would give man to repent” he is saying that even after so many centuries man is still making the same mistakes and not repenting for them. He also thinks that man hasn’t advanced any further since his is ancient ancestors and that they are only after greed. At the end of the poem he mentions “Names on a list, whose faces I do not recall” This verse is a personal one where he comments on that there have been so many deaths he can no longer recall them all.
Comparing and contrasting poems A and B is not difficult, as the differences are clear. Poem A, The Destruction of Sennacherib, is about the glories of war, whereas poem B, Futility, is about despair and bleakness. In futility there is brutal imagery of war and death, whereas in the destruction of Sennacherib the images are colourful and exciting, there is no mentions of brutality or anything like that. In The Destruction of Sennacherib the author felt that God justified the war whereas the author of Futility believed that war was pointless and meaningless.
Comparing poems B, Futility, and poem C, The Fury of Aerial Bombardment has proven to be much more difficult, there is of course the obvious difference that is the lay out of the poems, Futility is written in sonnet form whereas The Fury of Aerial Bombardment is done in stanzas. Throughout Futility we often get the feeling that Owen was actually there to witness the events happening whereas with Eberhart we often feel as if he is detached from the happenings. Throughout Futility we have a contrast between bright, positive images and the constant dreary and sadistic images found in The Fury of Aerial Bombardment. In The Fury of Aerial Bombardment the author is constantly referring to God and how he has neither control, nor feelings over this war that is happening before him whereas in Futility the author asks how could he let this happen, suggesting that he believed God still had some control over the war and what was happening. The Fury of Aerial Bombardment is also constantly questioning things whereas Futility accepts what has happened but silently wonders why.
