Apart from the fact that this speaker is fed up of it, he doesn’t seem to have much power. So this has made him mad, it has made him think about the back of the boots belonging to the soldier in front of him. With Henry V, he has lots of power, and it has made him think nicely of War. By the way the poem is structured, there is no rhyme as far as I can see, nor was there much in Henry V.
By every verse in Boots there is the same line “there’s no discharge in the War” this is known as a refrain, which means that a particular line is repeated. With Henry V there’s no verses-there’s blank verse- but no verses. There is no use of blank verse nor is there any form of iambic pentameter in Boots, there is a difference because only Henry used this.
In this poem the speaker is talking about boredom. I honestly didn’t expect this as I personally think of War as death, fear, injuries etc. I never realised that War could be boring. When I read this I felt shocked because it does show you how boring War can actually be. On the other hand I don’t think all Wars are like that, in the poem of Henry V, he was talking about it being a game and something to be happy about, and also the in the next poem I am going to discuss, doesn’t say that War is boring. The speaker in Boots talks about War as a boring experience that you wouldn’t want to be part of.
The next pair of poems I looked at showed that attitudes of War alter if you have or haven’t had first hand experience. The first poem I looked at was a poem called Charge of the Light Brigade. This was a poem by a man called Alfred lord Tennyson. This poem was written around about November 1854. Tennyson wasn’t actually in the War but got the information from the local newspaper which I believe was The Times, which was reported a week after the event actually happened. Alfred lord Tennyson was a Poet Laureate; which was a role for one particular poet who was to write about significant events. So he wrote this poem to honour the soldiers. The actual War was called the Crimean War; which was between the Russian Empire versus the British Empire, the French Empire and the Ottomans (Turkish Empire). This War was famous for several reasons: firstly it was the start of modern nursing, it all started with a woman called Florence Nightingale. Florence set up a Warfare hospital in the warfare zone. This wasn’t acceptable beforehand, because women had to see the men’s private parts to treat them. Secondly it was the way officers were appointed; back in those days officers had to buy their commission. As a result of this many lives were lost because the men in charge didn’t have any experience. The final reason why this War was famous is because of the military blunder; the British Empire was given the order to sneak round to the back of the Russian cannons and take them out. But the message that they were given was to charge forwards- right towards the cannons being fired by the Russians! Many lives were lost as a consequence.
Although this poem was written around November 1854 (the charge itself was 25 October 1854) this poem was written in a formal language. I know this because there isn’t any use of abbreviations, no colloquialism; I think that there isn’t any slang terms because Tennyson wants to honour the soldiers so he talks about them Warmly in a formal language “honour the charge they made”. This shows that he is honouring the duty of these soldiers; when he uses repetition, he says “…six hundred”. I have also noticed that on the forth line of every verse there is a word rhyming with “hundred”, there are words like “blundered”, “thundered”, “wondered”. This is another method of repetition. He made this poem more dramatic by the use of imaginary language like “Into the jaws of death”, he said this because the light brigade had to charge down the valley into the Russians even when they knew it was dangerous, this is why he honours them. I also know that he uses verbs- very powerful verbs- such as “sabring”, “charging”, “plunged”, and reeled”. These are used to create an effect, which is to try and make the reader understand the amount of soldiers that were killed. In the Crimean War 661 people went out, 113 people were killed, 134 were wounded, and 45 people were taken prisoner and 362 horses were either lost or killed. And also he uses a handful of description, especially when he states “flushed as they turned in air”. Tennyson used that much description that you can see the sunlight on the swords in your head. Another example is when he says “cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front of them” this shows what shots were coming at them. When he says this he actually means “look these soldiers died for our country so show some respect” nowadays people don’t need to do this nowadays there’s the memorial association that where they do memorial services. Evidently in these days there weren’t any memorials so it was all left to the Poet Laureate.
Alfred Lord Tennyson uses a lot of description to make his poem more dramatic. Certainly when he says “reeled from the sabre-stroke, shattered and thundered”. This shows that the description used is very moving of how the English army slashed through the cannon blasts. The reader would be able to imagine it as if they were there.
What I also realise is that this poem was written after the War had taken place. In Boots, the poem was set on the way to War; in Henry V it was set before the War, so there is a connection between the poems so far. I also found out that Tennyson uses imaginary language, like when he uses “flashed all their sabres bare” this helps you create a vivid picture of soldiers swishing their swords about. The effect of this is very touching, it makes you realise how brave these soldiers really were. Most of the soldiers were feeling scared and weak, but Tennyson makes out that they are brave, tough, ultimate survivors. He did this because-as explained before- he is Poet Laureate- he wanted to honour the light brigade “honour the charge they made. Honour the light brigade, noble six hundred.”
This poem is organised in several ways. Firstly the amount of rhythm that is used; it has the beat of horses hooves; it has this rhythm because it was a cavalry charge. This is another method of making the poem more dramatic. This enables the reader to feel part of the army itself, making it more realistic like how he states “stormed at with shot and shell” this has alliteration in it as well, the number of S’s used make an effect by emphasis, making it more interesting. Also he uses metaphors such as “jaws of Death” this is another method of emphasis giving it a vivid picture of the War scene. Thirdly Tennyson uses direct speech “forward the light brigade” this shows that Tennyson wants the readers to understand how brave these soldiers really were, so again the reader can imagine the situation as if you were actually there. I think that it is appropriate to use this kind of stuff in a formal poem because it is the kind of thing that formal poems contain. Boots, on the other hand, contained little of metaphors because you wouldn’t see this kind of language in an informal piece. However Boots had a lot of alliteration and rhythm “Boots-boots-boots-boots”. This shows that there is a bit of a similarity between Boots and Charge of the Light Brigade.
When the charge happened, the soldiers-as already mentioned- the soldiers were ordered to charge at the Russian cannons. They knew it was a blunder but they followed orders obediently. But why do it anyway? Well in those days it was seen unacceptable to question orders from a high ranked officer. Thus still happens today in modern Warfare. Tennyson appreciates this blunder and admires them for what they did an example of this is when he says “noble six hundred” and “honour the light brigade”. This is how Tennyson feels about them so he wants to commemorate what these soldiers did. From the figures I’ve been given: 113 soldiers were killed, 661 soldiers went out, 134 were wounded, 45 men were taken prisoner and 362 horses were lost, injured or killed. If this happened today then there would be hell to pay; it would be on the news, there would be talks in parliament about it.
I would blame them for that, lives were lost because of one silly choice, also the officers weren’t trained properly, if they had been properly trained then the message would have got round correct. It is not normal to let it go by like Tennyson did. This does show that opinions have changed over time. Back in those days was the ‘obedient age’ as I like to call it. Nowadays it is the ‘you cannot win age’. Do one thing and it is game over, celebrities are followed everywhere by the press, the law is very tight and strict.
The next poem I looked at was a poem called Disabled by a poet called Wilfred Owen. This poem was written during the Great War (WW1) it was written in1917 and was set in WW1 itself. The weapons at this time were very more sophisticated than The Charge of the Light Brigade. In Charge it was horse and sword combat, possibly cannons were used as well. In WW1 it was machine guns, rifles and bayonets used, so more people were killed in this War than the Crimean War. Around 74,000 people were killed during WW1. This does prove that the scale of Warfare has increased over time (during the Crimean War and the Great War) this means that more people were killed than before.
Wilfred Owen was in the war himself, he was an officer in the Manchester regiment, and he was a second lieutenant rank in the army. He was wounded, in March 1917, when he came home to a military hospital he met another poet called Siegfried Sassoon, he was also in hospital whilst Owen was, and gave him ideas. He went back to the front line in August 1918, and died in action on the 4th November, precisely a week before the Armistice (when the peace was signed). Tennyson didn’t know about the Crimean War but read it in the paper, whereas Owen was actually in this war, he served in it. So we are more likely to trust him than Tennyson.
Sometimes in poetry you can invert another character to do the talking. This is what happens in this poem. Although the poet is talking, he is talking about a man who has lost his arms and legs; he is Disabled because he went to war. He thinks he is stupid because he joined the army he was drunk “… when he’d drunk a peg, he thought he better join” this shows that he regrets what he did. This makes us feel sorry for him because we know it wasn’t his fault. He joined up at a very young age “smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years” this is implied criticism which means that he isn’t stating it straight on, but he leaves you to work it out for yourself.
During fighting in the war, Wilfred Owen suffered a serious concussion and was taken to a hospital. He went back to war and was suffering from neurasthenia (shell-shock; although now it is known as PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder). A week before the war ended, he wrote this poem because he wanted to emphasise what war can do to you. Behind each poet they use many techniques that they may use. This poem is written in the 3rd person, I know this because there is no use of “I, we, and us”. It is things like “he was drafted out with drums and cheers”. In Charge it was also in 3rd person but it was in the style of then they rode back”. There is a difference but it isn’t the same style as Charge of the Light Brigade (Charge). This makes the effect more moving than if it was in the 1st person because it would be difficult to describe it more interestingly whereas in Charge to do it in the 3rd person is the most sensible thing to do. Tennyson wasn’t there, although Wilfred Owen was in the war he chose to do it in the 3rd person because it makes it more palatable for the reader.
When Wilfred Owen talks about the description of physical injury, it is both overt and implied. Overt is where it is obvious from what you read; what his physical injuries are “heap of purple spurted from his thigh” he had his legs blown off so that is how he described it. Implied description means that it is harder to guess what has gone on “poured it down shell-holes ‘till the veins ran dry” this is really brutal language, he is saying that he lost his blood down the shell holes. In Charge there is a similar image of war from how it says “volleyed and blundered”. For Disabled there is lots of gory and brutal language, whereas Charge- it’s not brutal- but it covers what happened in the war, which is moving because many people lost their lives. Wilfred Owen uses a lot of irony in this poem, like “daggers in plaid socks”. This is almost like he’s laughing and pitying war does and how much he disapproves of it. This makes people realise that their wasn’t any point in having this war after all, many lives were sacrificed over one simple mistake.
Every poet writes a poem for a reason. Owen writes this poem about war and the pities of it. He writes in a way that war is not a thing to be considered. Like saying “don’t join up”. This affects his attitude toward the soldiers because in Charge, evidently he honoured what the soldiers did, so he thinks good of war. However Wilfred Owen doesn’t like war, so consequently he describes the soldier in a gruesome and vile way. I might not be correct but that is how I see it. When you like somebody you talk about them nicely, when you dislike them you talk about them nastily, just how Owen says “and care of arms”, another use of irony because he hasn’t got any arms.
Also when people write poems, they must have a tone, this means the message the poet is trying to make. Without it, it won’t be interesting. The tone of how Owen writes this is sad, of pity, of the problems and consequences of war. Many comments made by Owen are ironic; this is a written version of sarcasm. Irony is making things sound like they could happen now they can’t. For example when he mentions “for daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes” this is the most moving and sympathetic form of irony; he can’t have daggers in plaid socks because his legs were blown off, so he hasn’t got socks to wear. And of ‘smart salutes’, he can’t salute because he hasn’t got any arms left. In Charge however, there isn’t any ironic language in this poem, but that will be because of the fact that it is such an upbeat poem, Tennyson wants to cheer the soldiers for what they did; wants to honour the soldiers, except Disabled talks about the pities of war, and how people may become.
Owen uses irony because he wants to point out good things that really mean bad, such as “smiling, they wrote his lie” this means that he was too young but they recruited him anyway. This shows that although he quotes it in a good term, he means it in a bad term. Also when he says “care of arms” this means how you look after your guns and weapons; now he can’t look after his weapons because he hasn’t got any arms to do so.
From the way the soldier has been described throughout the poem “someone said he’d look a god in kilts”. I learn that from what has happened to him his life is ruined. From what I read he is in a care military hospital, where the only people who talk to him are the ones who have been paid to do so “only a solemn man brought him fruits” this is another form of irony because he hasn’t got any hands to eat them with. A ‘solemn man’ would either be a vicar or a chaplain. Then again it is there role to do this; it isn’t a free time activity. Charge uses direct speech “forward the Light Brigade, charge for the guns he said”. In Disabled Owen doesn’t use any direct speech, but many of it is the speaker thinking it inside his head. “How cold and late it is, why won’t they come and put him to bed, why won’t they come?” this is a really sympathetic poem and it makes you think “that could be me”, which kind of scares you rather than repulse you.
For the poet’s attitudes to war, I learn that Wilfred Owen doesn’t like war, full stop. I know this from the amount of ironic description that is used, the brutal language etc. whereas Tennyson; I think that he likes war and honours the soldiers who fought in the war. Even though it was a terrible event, however he still commemorates from the lives that were lost, which is why I think that Tennyson is okay with war. I think Wilfred Owen hates war because he was involved in it and he would have seen people die. Views have changed over time because in Tennyson’s age people were obedient and did what they were told; many lives were lost so Tennyson admires them, fair enough. However Owen has been in the war (the Great War in fact) and must have experienced terrible losses, so naturally, he will have a less good view than Tennyson.
The next pair of poems I looked at was written by women: War Girls and Perhaps. The first of the pair was war girls by Jessie pope, this was a poem that was written in 1916 and was- like Disabled- set in WW1. The person in the poem seems to be the poet talking to the audience. Before WW1 women had to work inside the home and were not allowed to work outside the home. In WW1 women were allowed to work outside the home and do the jobs the men did while they were fighting in the war, the only reason women were allowed to do these jobs was because there wasn’t any men to do the jobs. This is the first poem we have looked at that has been written by a girl, so her experience to war would be different because she hasn’t fought in a war. This war did affect the women greatly because they were allowed to work outside the home and work; more freedom for the girls. This poem is talking about the social impact of the war. This changed women’s lives because they were happier than ever before, so naturally when the men came back home the women couldn’t bear to go back to how it was before.
We also looked at Perhaps by Vera Brittain. This poem was set in the same war and the same time scale as War Girls, except where Jessie Pope aims to emphasise the fact that women can leave the home; Vera Brittain has striven to make out the opposite. Where Jessie Pope says “there’s the girl who clips your ticket for the train.” And where Vera Brittain says “and I shall find the white may blossoms sweet”. The poem Perhaps was published in 1920, but due to the tone of language she uses “to see the passing of the dying year”, it makes me feel that this poem was written shortly after ‘RAL’s’ death. This RAL was actually called Roland Latent, and he was a loved one of Vera Brittain who died of wounds in France on December 23rd 1915, his family would have got the news around Christmas day. So you could imagine that her Christmases from then on would be ruined since it is linked to this occasion. So when he died evidently she put all of her feelings into this poem.
Unlike War Girls, Perhaps is a really sad and depressing poem, whereas War Girls is an upbeat and positive poem. Vera Brittain says sad things like “Perhaps some day the sun will shine again”, and Jessie Pope says “beats a heart that’s soft and warm”. This shows that these two poems are not the same.
The person who is speaking doesn’t just have to be a made up character like in Disabled, with Perhaps and War Girls, I see that the poet is speaking; Vera Brittain isn’t as upbeat as Jessie Pope because she has lost her loved one in WW1. In War Girls, Jessie Pope is talking about the social impact of what war has done to lots of women “there’s the girl…”, however Vera Brittain is talking about the personal impact of war and what it has done to her “Perhaps someday I will not shrink in pain”, this is very moving because it shows what the impact of war has done to women, whereas the rest of the poems have been aimed at the men. I researched that later in life Vera Brittain became a pacifist (dislikes war).
I learn from reading War Girls that it is in the 3rd person, Jessie Pope has less knowledge of war than Henry, Boots or Disabled. She probably was more aware than Tennyson because reports were more detailed than in Tennyson’s day. However Perhaps is written in the 1st person and is talking about one woman, and in War Girls, as explained, it talks about multiple number of girls. In War Girls there is a more general focus on the women of many classes, what was happening to them was that they were given opportunities that they didn’t have before; as I’ve said under the Edwardian era women had strictures on what to wear, do etc. in Perhaps she talks about just one girl- herself. Like Jessie Pope, Vera Brittain is talking about life at home, whereas all the other poems talk about life at war or on the front line.
Apart from that, both poets write for totally different reasons. The reason Jessie Pope has written this was to emphasise what was happening to them. Brittain aimed to emphasise what has happened to her. The tone of Perhaps is very saddening “although You are not there”, I learn that she uses a capital letter for the word You, she is talking about the loved one of her, this makes an effect because it shows that she loves him, making it sadder because she hasn’t got him any more. This says that she has lost her loved one and it shows that life won’t be the same without him. On the other hand War Girls is very upbeat and lively “there’s a girl who clips your ticket for the train”, and by the way she describes the girls “strong, sensible and fit”. This shows that she is telling the reader that they are not what everybody seems to think they are. With Perhaps she is not trying to make people feel sorry for her (she manages it), but she is trying to tell the readers how she feels “And feel once more I do not live in vain”. When she says this she means that she feels as if she doesn’t live for a reason since his loved one has died. Where War Girls has a rhythm, Perhaps does not. For example when she says “And a girl who speeds lifts from floor to floor” it is written as if it should be read in a more ‘la-dee-da’ type of voice. In Perhaps it doesn’t tend to have any sort of rhythm, because in my personal view there wouldn’t be any point, plus it wouldn’t fit with the purpose of the poem. However both poems do rhyme, although not the same pattern. In War Girls there are only two verses, however Perhaps is split into five. In Perhaps, the verses seem to be split into seasons of the year “and listen to the Christmas songs again”. That is in the forth verse, she does this because she is trying to emphasise what she does on a day-to-day basis, all year every year. In War Girls it doesn’t have this feat, because Jessie Pope must have known that it would go back to how it was before. The effect of this ‘seasons’ makes you see things into perspective.
Every poem has to have either a formal or an informal language. War Girls- it’s hard to decide really- it is informal, but in a posh way; like how it says “though a canny mother wit they show no lack”, this basically means that they have common sense. It is hard to decide because it is intended to be read in a posh tone. But it does contain some colloquialism like “penned up” and “show their grit”. In Perhaps it is formal; there isn’t any colloquialism, no slang terms.
From reading both poems I learn that there is a difference in their opinions to war. In Perhaps it is clear that she does not like war because she lost her loved one (RAL) from war and later became a pacifist. There isn’t any evidence of her disapproving of war, but you can infer about her tone how she feels about it.
Apart from that, in War Girls I think that it is possible for her to like war; because if it wasn’t for the war then women wouldn’t be allowed to work outside the home, wouldn’t have jobs and would have to stay in the home and be the “canny mother wit”. This shows that she approves of this war taking place.
The first of the final two poems we looked at was called In Flanders Fields by a Canadian man called John McCrae and was written around May 1915. John McCrae was a surgeon in WW1 and worked in Ypres, Belgium. His job was to decide whether he could save the soldiers or not; if the wounds were too serious then he would have to leave them and move on to someone who he could save. It was a difficult job involving difficult decisions. The place where he worked was called a casualty clearing station which was like a military hospital for emergency injuries. John McCrae didn’t actually die in action like Wilfred Owen or RAL did, but he died of a disease called pneumonia, which is an infection in the lungs, which was common back in those conditions due to the dampness of the place where he worked.
The reason why John McCrae written this poem was because he lost his best friend the day before he wrote this poem, so he had to master his grief, and also organise the funeral. In the poem it seems to be the dead speaking “we are the dead, short days ago” this shows that they were alive a couple days ago, now they are dead. This makes the poem more interesting because it makes the poem sound more real.
In the poem In Flanders Fields it is written in the 1st person in a plural way “we shall not sleep”. As explained before it is the dead speaking, and they are speaking to living soldiers or men who are considering being soldiers. However in Perhaps it is in the 1st person and it is talking about what the impact of war has done to her. When John McCrae wrote this poem, he used a French poetic structure called a Rondeau; for a Rondeau, it must have a refrain, In Flanders Fields it does “In Flanders Fields”. It must also have 13 lines of 8 syllables. Not only does how use this difficult poetic structure, but he splits each of the 3 verses into themes. The theme for the first verse is the setting; where the war was the worst “scarce heard amid the guns below” this is telling you that when they were alive they heard the guns firing from the trenches, this makes the effect more realistic because it shows how they died. Secondly in verse 2 the theme was who is talking to you “we are the dead, short days ago” this means they were live a few days ago, now they are dead, the effect will be sympathy because John McCrae must have known that was where he would be a couple of days after writing this poem. Finally the third verse is the message they are trying to make, he says take up our quarrel with the foe”, he is basically saying “we’ve done our bit; we can’t do any more because we’re dead, now it’s up to you to do your bit”. Later on he says “if ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep though poppies grow, In Flanders Fields”. This is saying, “if you don’t do your part for us, we will not rest in peace, though poppies grow, In Flanders Fields”, when he says we shall not sleep, this means that although poppies are above them (poppies are supposed to contain the drug opium, which is to put you into a deep sleep) so he is trying to make you feel guilty if you don’t do what he asks. When he says “ye” this is a form of archaism (an old fashioned word not used anymore) this word ‘ye’ means you and is a word that was in the bible and is certainly not used today.
The message that McCrae is trying to make is that people who have been to war think that it is bad, but people who don’t go to war think it’s a good and gallant thing to do. In Perhaps she is talking about an experience that she has had, like saying “this is changing my life, I don’t think I will be able to live like this” this shows that there is a difference between the two. In Flanders Fields it’s like he is making you feel guilty if you don’t do his request- which is to finish what the ‘dead’ started. The background of this poem does make you expect you to feel that he is trying to take control over the men of Britain by blackmailing them, if they do not go to war, then the dead won’t rest in peace “The torch; be yours to hold it high, if ye break faith with us who die.” This also proves that he uses inclusive language to make the reader feel included. So that makes us more likely to do what he wants us to do. When he says, “Take up our quarrel with the foe”, this is a method of persuasion that McCrae uses, this also makes him get his own way. By reading this poem I have realised that he has left out all of the gory parts of war, like Wilfred Owen did in his poem Disabled. He seems to feel as if war is a thing that is a sacred duty, if he used the ‘truth’ then it would make it less likely for the men to want to join up, which is why he left it out.
The tone of In Flanders Fields is totally unexpected. Due to the fact that he had lost his best friend the day before, you would expect him to be talking in an angry tone, as if he wants the war to end. However he doesn’t talk angrily as we’d think him to be thinking. In this poem he talks in a flat tone, as if he does not speak in any emotion, if there is an emotion, then it would be persuasion. The reason behind In Flanders Fields is to get the soldiers or the young men to carry out the duty John McCrae started “Take up our quarrel with the foe”. So when I discovered the story behind this poem, I felt shocked because this is how he expresses his grief for his best friends lost.
In the poem In Flanders Fields, there is some sort of rhyming pattern, but you will have to look closely to notice it. By looking at this from first glance, I did not notice any rhyming until I looked at it in more detail. There does not seem to be a rhythm in this poem, it is just read of the sheet; and let the vocabulary and the language do the work.
I think that the kind of language John McCrae uses is formal. It is easy to work out from how he uses archaic language (words not used anymore) like “ye break faith” and “quarrel with the foe”. Apart from that most of it is formal, a quick example of this is “we are the dead, short days ago” if it was informal then it would say “we are the dead, but we haven’t been dead long” likewise in Charge of the Light Brigade, I think it is in a formal language because it is the language that they spoke in those days. But in Boots it is an informal poem where uses words like “sloggin’ over Africa”, he uses colloquialism because that is the type of language that the poet speaks like, because he is ‘bottom of the pile’ I suppose.
The final poem I read was called The Soldier by a man called Rupert Brooke. He wrote this poem in 1914- when the war started. This is the first poem we have looked at where the poet was in the Royal Naval Volunteer. Rupert Brooke joined in October 1914, the war started in August 1914, he was sailing with them by February 1915, and he was going to a place called Gallipoli. On April 23rd 1915 he died from an infection of a mosquito bite. This poet didn’t have much experience of war as John McCrae did. So he can't have a rough idea of what’s happening.
In the poem Rupert Brooke is talking to his family and friends and this poem was designed to be read only if he died. Which is why he doesn’t use any gruesome language like Wilfred Owen did. Backing those days (at the start of The Great War), families and friends at home were concerned if the bodies would be brought home or not. This is why he writes the poem, to reassure those at home that he will be alright.
Unlike In Flanders Fields this poem is written in 1st person in a singular way, In Flanders Fields is written in a plural tone. It’s the same in Boots, Rudyard Kipling wrote it in a singular way. Rupert Brooke writes in the 1st person because it isn’t talking about multiple people like War Girls, it is talking about himself.
I think that The Soldier is trying to make us feel as if he is alright. He wants to make the reader understand that if he dies then he will be buried in a nice place, this can be found when he says “that there’s some corner of a foreign field”. Thus is a use of imagery, it sounds English. So he makes it seem familiar with the readers at home, because England’s full of fields; when he says the corner, that suggests that he will be buried in a nice place, tucked into a nice little corner. But it isn’t the imagery that Wilfred Owen uses, Rupert Brooke uses kind and warm language to avoid fear and grief for those at home. So he uses familiar language to make the readers at home (families and friends) feel safer.
I learn that this poem contains some repetition, of how it always states “England”. He keeps saying this because he wants to idealise the rural scene; showing the best of England “A body of England’s, breathing English air”. He also uses patriotism- which means to love your country more than yourself “English heaven”. He also uses imagery under patriotism to give an impression of after life “eternal mind”, this makes the families at home feel more safer now he uses this kind of language.
What I also realised was that this poem has euphemism (kinder words) to make it better for the reader; like how he says “a richer dust concealed”. This is a kinder way of saying ‘dead bodies buried’. From the use of euphemism I can infer that the intended audience is his family and friends of this poet because he puts in lots of positive things like “gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam”. This makes the families and friends of this poet or families of other soldiers in war think warmly of the soldiers who have been killed, because they would think positively of them and have good memories of them., however if he wrote about loos and fear, then his family would be worried; whereas if he puts positive stuff then they would think warmly of him if he dies “if I should die, think only this of me”, this would leave good memories instead of bad ones.
What I also noticed is about the use of personification (the description of something to have a human form); he describes England as a mother “A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware” this is saying ‘England brought me up, England made me who I am. He repeats this to show euphemism. He wants the reader to know that he is proud to be English, making it more familiar for the reader. Like In Flanders Fields, the tone for The Soldier is surprising. In Flanders Fields, John McCrae is trying to encourage soldiers to finish what ‘The Dead’ started. In The Soldier, he shows no negativity, he basically says two things: he reassures those at home, “if I should die, think only this of me”, this is telling the family or friends that if he dies not to be upset. Secondly: what it means to be English, “a pulse in the eternal mind”. This means ‘if you sacrifice your life for your country then you will go to heaven no matter what bad stuff you’ve done. Since this contains no negativity we are shocked because we expect him to be scared rather than reassuring.
This poem The Soldier is structured in a very interesting way: it is taken in the style of a sonnet (a very old poetic structure). It can either be a Shakespearean or an Italian, this is an Italian sonnet. An Italian sonnet traditionally has two parts- one for the problem and one for the solution. The problem part usually contains an octave (which is 8 lines, split into two groups of 4, which is called a quatrain). The solution part, however, contains a sestet; which is 6 lines. As I’ve already mentioned the two parts have two things: reassurance and what it means to be English. I think that this style suits the poem because it is a twist to the poems of what we have read beforehand. The last poem was a Rondeau, the poem before that was split into two verses. I think more of his death than I would have done if it was a different style.
I can infer that this poem is in a formal language, from how he uses words like “the eternal mind” and “blest by suns of home”. I don’t think that it is neither hard nor easy to work it out because it is there on the page, but you have to look closely to work some of it out. Also there is no description of injury or battle, that’s confusing because he’s actually going to battle; you’d expect him to be talking about violence. But f you cast your minds back you will realise that he hasn’t been there long, so he couldn’t have had a clear view of what was happening, in WW1 soldiers were told that it would be over by Christmas. Plus it was also designed to be read if he died, so he can't put bad and scary memories into his family and friends can’t he?
I’ve read several poems from different time periods. The earliest being in the 16th century with The Speech before Agincourt by William Shakespeare, and the oldest being Disabled by Wilfred Owen in 1917. the other poems I looked at was: some by men who have or haven’t had first hand experience, some by women who were explaining the impact of those who didn’t fight, some by people who thought war was Great and worthwhile and glorious, some by those who thought war was bad and preferred and alternative. I think that the most horrific poem was Disabled by Wilfred Owen, because it contains some gory and gruesome language and irony (“smiling they wrote his lie”) the poem I have been most affected by was Perhaps by Vera Brittain, because she uses very sad language (“although you are not there”) she says this because the language is very moving and makes us feel sympathetic for her