A Detailed Discussion and Analysis of How Poetry Reflects Changing and Different Attitudes to World War One.

A Detailed Discussion and Analysis of How Poetry Reflects Changing and Different Attitudes to World War One

The three poems that I have picked for this discussion are, “To the Others”, “He went for a soldier” and “Anthem for doomed youth”. I have chosen these poems because each of the three poets depicts different aspects of the war: “To the others” is an example of the ideals and chivalry of the war. “He went for a soldier,” is a strong statement about the realities of trench warfare and lastly, “Anthem for doomed youth” gives a mournful insight into Owen’s impression of the war. Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Anthem for doomed youth” although short, it still gives a very powerful outlook of the war. Ruth Comfort Mitchell’s poem, “He went for a soldier” is lengthier than Wilfred Owen’s because she describes the battle of the war in much more detail. Finally, the ballad by Katherine Tynan has the most emotional and personal attitude to it throughout the poem.

“To the others” is a very patriotic ballad. One of the ways you could interpret this, is that it is aimed at the opposition by implying look at our sons, they aren’t afraid to go to war. Additionally it could be intended for the anti war mothers, as if to say, there is a good reason to send your son to war, he will be a hero, you should be proud of him. This poem is incredibly repetitive, for example, “lured”, “Your son and my son” and “Dreams” are repeated. I think this repetition of the word “dreams” is to emphasise the religious content of the poem. In lines two and four “the Holy War”, “Christ” and “steel” are mentioned. These can also be interpreted as religious concepts because the holy war could be referring to the crusade of the Muslims. “the banner of Christ over them, in steel arrayed.” is implying that Christ will protect them, “steel” could be stating how strongly they believe in God and the strength of the force. Throughout the poem, Tynan refers to the Lord because she is very religious, you can tell this by looking at her past works, and I think that she has made this a personal ballad. “These were the Voices they heard from far, Bugles and trumpets of the Holy War” I interpret this to mean that the soldiers could almost hear the angels talking to them, even though they were still alive, as if the men knew they were dead before they actually were. Katherine Tynan gets the message across that the Lord is protecting your sons at war and when they die, so you should let them fight.

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During the poem, the idea of purity is shown through Tynan’s words, “their mother’s kiss” and “in mother’s breast, by mother’s wings.” This is relating to how young and innocent the soldiers are but it could also be showing how tragic the war is and be understood as a message not to send your children to war. Another important detail about this poem is that the stanzas have a strong, regular rhyming pattern of aabb, by this I mean the last word of the first two lines rhyme, and the last word of the next two lines rhyme, giving a consistent feel and making it flow. The poem sees the children growing up into men, at the beginning they are known as, “Your son and my son” and the end they are described as, “your man and my man” this shows that they have gone from children to soldiers. “Your son and my son, clean as new swords” is suggesting that their sons are pure and have done well, “clean as new swords” also refers to chivalry.

“He went for a soldier” is an unusual poem in that during the first two stanzas, the character Billy is chirpy as he sets off to war, “To the gay, bold tune they kept a-drumming there.” However, in the remaining stanzas, the atmosphere is quite the opposite; it becomes morbid very quickly. At the end of each stanza, “Billy, the soldier boy!” is repeated, I think that this is to emphasise how young Billy is. Another projection of Billy’s youth and innocence through the poem is: “Oh, the pretty girls he glimpsed a-crying there” and “Blushing under the cheers.” The fact that they are referred to as girls and not women shows that the people waving good-bye were young, like Billy. In addition, the blushing could be another indication of his age.

The last three stanzas consists of many references to strong, brutal imagery, “the ground all around is smeared with the gore of him” it has gone from cheerful to reality. In reality, the war is very different to what everybody at home thinks about it, they think that Billy is being a hero and is going to return, but in reality, Billy is not going to come back. Throughout the poem Mitchell refers to how young and innocent Billy is, “clear eyed and clean and sound to the core of him.” So, instead of portraying how happy Billy is, the poem moves onto the violence of war. There is a vast amount of dehumanisation, “there are pain crazed animals a-shrieking there” and “he fights like a rat in a corner” both of these are saying that the soldiers have been reduced to animals, this could also be interpreted as being an insult because it says that Billy is a rodent; people hate rodents. I think that the attitude to the war in this poem is clear: the individuals at home think that the war will be over soon and their sons will come back however in reality; war will carry on for a long period of time and their sons are not likely to return alive.

“Anthem for doomed youth” is clearly a poem written to discourage people to send their sons to war. Wilfred Owen dehumanises the men on the battlefield and personifies the guns, “for these who die as cattle” and “monstrous anger of the guns.” It tells the people at home what is actually happening to their families out at war. I think that Owen is trying to say that when the soldiers die they are forgotten about on the battlefield, they are not given a proper funeral or treated like heroes they are just left on the front line, instead of church bells ringing the only thing that they get, is “stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle.” All through the poem funeral, death and heaven are mentioned, “no mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells” this poem is easily understood so it can put a powerful message across, do not send your children to war. The youth and innocence of the soldiers are referred to frequently: “not in the hands of boys but in their eyes.”

In my opinion, Wilfred Owen is writing this poem based on his own experiences of the war. Owen joined the army at a young age; this poem is about a young soldier. Owen was put in a mental hospital; this poem talks about, “the shrill, demented choirs” and “their flowers the tenderness of patient minds” both are references to ill suffering, mental patients. The first stanza is written in a style of an angry adult, how he hates war because of the death and guns, “monstrous anger of the guns.” However, in the second stanza it is like a timid little boy is writing of his discontent, the language is very simple, and he talks of people dieing a more peaceful death than in the first stanza, “and each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds.” It is as if the poet missed his childhood due to war. This is yet another example of how the poem is based on Wilfred Owen’s own life.

The three poems that I selected show various attitudes to war through their use of language, the rhyming, their descriptions and their opinions and own experiences. “To the others” encourages our patriotic determination to go and fight in the war, “He went for a soldier” is matter-of-fact to begin with, but reverses the approach with a sense of real events and “Anthem for doomed youth” just persuades people not to join the army. Katherine Tynan also spent her time fighting in the war, however, unlike Owen, she was not on the front line and she did not get sent to a mental asylum, so her view on the war will be unlike Owens’ in some respects. “To the others” and “Anthem for doomed youth” are both very religious poems, as you can see by how many references there are to God and the heavens.

All of the poems I have chosen talk about the death of the soldiers, especially “Anthem for doomed youth” which is the goriest perhaps due to the fact that Owen would have witnessed many horrific deaths. The attitude to war in poems changed depending on weather the poet fought in the war, or was one of the individuals left at home. “He went for a soldier” explains how untrained the boy is, thus suggesting that it was probably set nearer the middle of the war rather than towards the beginning like the other two seem to be. As the war progressed, people’s attitudes became less positive towards its movements especially as more people died. The people left at home disliked the war as more soldiers died, therefore the poems described the deaths more explicitly.