Contrast the poetry at the beginning of the First World War with that produced by the later soldier poets
Contrast the poetry at the beginning of the First World War with that
produced by the later soldier poets
As tension between Britain and Germany grew, Britain was generally for the idea of a war. This was mainly ignorance. For a long time Britain had gone without having to fight in a war, and therefore the public hadn't faced any recent experiences of high casualties or the true realities that war held. Many people nowadays see the Edwardian era to be very glamorous, but to the people of the time it was stuffy and dull and also shameful with its strikes, suffragette riots, and its extremes of wealth and poverty. War seemed like a glorious adventure. Enthusiasm gathered. Patriotism soon flooded the country, a flood that was utterly inescapable throughout Britain. The government plastered moral boosting posters throughout streets adding to the upbeat tempo that the war was giving everyone. The newspaper's also took full advantage of this and filled pages with patriotic poems, pictures and like-wise. Hundreds of thousands volunteered. Many were young men that had never seen the effects of war, and had been swept away in the moment. So many men enlisted in a mood of optimistic exhilaration, assuming the war would be both gallant, and heroic whilst making better men of those who fought.
Most of the poems written at the beginning of the war seem to have been written in order to mount pressure on those who were of recruiting age. Poets like Begbie, Pope and Brooke are prime examples. Jessie Pope in the poem, "Who's for the Game?" is referring to war as a 'game'. By using the euphemism 'game' which is a contest played according to rules, Pope is belittling those that are uncertain of going to war. Pope does this continuously, by proposing questions such as-
"Who'll grip and tackle the job unafraid?"
This is a form of attacking their consciences and is almost making them feel embarrassed about being scarred of a "game" just like any other. Personally, I don't equate the word "war" with the terms' "game, or fun", and in a large section of pre-war poems these words were used . In this specific poem the words that war have been compared to are "game, fun, a show, a rugby match, tug-of-war", which are an immense contrast to reality.
Another pro-war view, was one found in the poem 'Fall In', written by Harold Begbie. He tries to get across to those of recruitment age by using the word "sonny" in the opening line of each stanza. The word "sonny" indicates that he is trying to relate to every single one of these young men on a personal basis, but I feel that this word is quite patronising. It would have added enormous pressure on them as the word "sonny" gives the feeling that the person saying the poem is much older, wiser and must have experience or know what he's talking about.
In the first couple of lines' of the poem, we read,-
"...what will you lack
When the girls line up the street,"
'Fall In' is about the future, but most of all it is about respect. You will have none. That is the message the poem tries to convey will happen to you if you don't go to war. Each stanza contemplates a certain part of the young man's future, and portrays it as if he hadn't made the decision to sign up. As the quotation I have made suggests, the first stanza is all ...
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In the first couple of lines' of the poem, we read,-
"...what will you lack
When the girls line up the street,"
'Fall In' is about the future, but most of all it is about respect. You will have none. That is the message the poem tries to convey will happen to you if you don't go to war. Each stanza contemplates a certain part of the young man's future, and portrays it as if he hadn't made the decision to sign up. As the quotation I have made suggests, the first stanza is all about girls and how they will shun you. Recruiting age was of around eighteen to twenty two, or three and to be told that you will be completely rejected by girls at that age appends pressure, as well as unnecessary embarrassment.
At the end of the second stanza we read-
"But where will you look when they give you the glance
That tells you they know you funked ?"
This stanza takes you a bit further into the future when you are settled with children. In this stanza the innocence of children are used to cause embarrassment. There are two words in the above quotation which I see as the most significant, they are "glance" and "when". The children are said to give him "the glance" , the word glance gives the effect of the children being ashamed and not having enough respect to look at him for much more than that. The other word that seems significant is "when", a duration of time, therefore your children will find out about you and will be ashamed of you, its only a matter of time.
We are given further reasons' for the idea of war in a poem ironically named "Peace", written by Rupert Brooke. The opening lines read,-
"Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His
Hour,"
Brooke believes that The war has been given to Britain by God. Brooke is thanking God in this quotation and throughout the whole poem. He sees the war as an opportunity that God has fortunately provided. Brooke believes this can only be God as this war has transformed the 'sleeping youth' into 'clear eye, and sharpened power', it transformed the 'old, cold, and dreary world' to a world which is 'glad'. He feels the main opportunity that Britain have been given is a chance to redeem itself from its sins, it says-
" Oh! We, who have known shame, we have found
release there,"
He is speaking for the whole of Britain when he says of those who have known shame, by shame he means something in they have done wrong in their life. The word "there" is war, Brooke says that at war your sins will be washed away, he also believes that there is 'no grief' and 'no ill' at war and that death is nothing to be feared. In fact, Brooke named this poem 'peace' as that is what he felt death in the war would be...peace.
The sad reality of war only became evident in poems during and after the actual war. War turned out to be an anti-climax. People started to realise the appalling conditions in which soldiers became accustomed to, the poor management, and the effects that war had. No-one knew this better than actual soldiers, who write many of these poems. These men had actual experience of war and made their feelings known. Siegfried Sassoon was a gallant officer who had won the Military Cross for his courageousness, though he was among the first to have his say on what he really thought of war. In the poem "Suicide in the Trenches", Sassoon tells us of the appalling conditions faced in the war, it says-
"With crumps and lice and lack of rum"
By, using the word 'and' twice, Sassoon makes it seem that these negative aspects are like a list that is never ending, and very monotonous. The "l's" at the beginning of the words help to portray the monotonous list of negative aspects, as they roll off the tongue well.
Wilfred Owen was someone else who made his opinion of war well known through his poems, "Dulce et Decorum est..." also gives us an idea of the difficulties faced at war, It says-
"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning."
Sassoon here is telling us what it is like to have someone you know or have been working with die in front of you. Here he tells of someone who could do nothing about the death of a fellow soldier yet dreams of the events again and again. Sassoon uses the word 'plunges', he puts this word into the present tense as it is something that still happens to him, even after the war. He even says that his dreams are not the same as reality but even worse. As in his dreams he can actually see what is happening to this man, whilst in reality, he was partially blinded by the green mist which was the gas bomb, therefore your mind will play games with you making it even harder to cope with the loss. Also in the dream he sees the soldier plunging towards him, which is also something which his mind has conjured up as this is not actually what occurs whilst the event took place. By saying 'In all my dreams' he is indicating that it won't just happen once or twice, but so often that you will never be able to forget about it. The last three words in the quotation all are adverbs, ending in '-ing' gives a feeling of continuing action, that never stops and adds to the desperation the words are trying to emphasise.
Another aspect poets disliked about war was mismanagement. This was also recognised by Sassoon in the poem "The General", he states-
"But he did for them both by his plan of attack."
Sassoon is blaming the generals for all these deaths of soldiers rather than the Germans due to their incompetence and plan of attack. The word 'did' is a euphemism for 'death', Sassoon uses it as it make the line seem more casual rather than full of resentment which it actually is. This poem uses a lot of contrasts between words, for example-
"'Good-Morning; good-morning!' the General said"
This is probably a very inappropriate expression, and a contrast to what the soldiers think. The word 'morning', may have been used by Sassoon with an underlying meaning of, 'Good-mourning; good mourning!'.
These poets often felt that the Staff Officers were much more concerned with their own welfare rather than anyone else's. We see this in the poem "Base Details" written by Sassoon. In this poem we see the anger of Sassoon, as it emphasises how in war the 'fittest die and the fattest live', the fittest being the soldiers and the fattest being the officers. Line 4, says-
"...my puffy petulant face"
The alliteration of these words along with them being plosives provide powerful emphasis to the words. The words he uses compliment each other and work well in agreement, causing the mind to envisage the faces of these bloated officers, as of their luxurious lifestyle. This feeling of luxury is also added in the next line, when he says-
"Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,"
Again, the alliteration adds to the sense of gluttony that Sassoon is presenting the reader with. The words 'guzzling' and 'gulping' are extremes of the words drinking and eating, by using these extremes we are given an understanding of the extent of luxury they happen to be living in. They also aren't living in any old hotel, Sassoon remarks that they are all staying in the best hotel.
In this same poem Sassoon tells of the distinct lack of care at high casualty figures shown by the officers, which he feels is out of order. Line 6,7, says-
"Reading the Roll of Honour. 'Poor young chap',
I'd say- 'I used to know his father well:"
Sassoon by saying 'reading' is saying how he would be sat in the hotel in comfort reading a newspaper, informing him on things he should already be aware of. The second line of this quotation is meant very sarcastically, as Sassoon knows that the officers don't know who he his, his father is, and don't particularly care, to them he was just another soldier in an endless list that unfortunately did die.
Some poets actually changed their views of war as time progressed. Harold Begbie is a prime example of someone who was hundred per cent for war to someone who had freed their minds from this illusion. He was the poet who constructed "Fall In", a very patronising and manipulative recruiting poem, but he also produced a poem called "War Exalts". These are probably the most contrasting war poems ever written by the one poet. Since I have mentioned "Fall In" previously, I will follow by looking at the poem which Begbie wrote as the war progressed, "War Exalts".
This poem is constructed in a way that makes it much more different than other war poems. The first line of every verse presents us with phrases and words that you would have expected Begbie (pre-war) and other patriotic war poets to have written, for example-
"War exalts and cleanses: it lifts man from the mud!"
This is a typical phrase you would have expected to have read in pre-war poems and praises war. But the second line of each verse is a complete reversal, it attacks war and reveals the grim realities that hide beneath. The next line says-
"Ask God what He thinks of a bayonet dripping blood."
The second lines are much more striking and is even more powerful as 'God' has now been involved. The first lines are what Begbie, for a long time, preached about in his poems, although these second lines show that he has opened up his eyes and can now see the full, bloody, picture which is war. The last line is the one that has most impact on the reader though, it says-
"Then go wash the blood off and try face your child."
This is now involving the innocence of children. By saying 'wash the blood off' he is literally calling those who go to war murderers, and therefore how can murderers go home and face their children.
The views and poems that I find most convincing are those that are hard hitting and make clear the reality of war and don't try to hide behind an idyllic view. A poem like this is "Dulce et Decorum est...", this pays attention to a few minor impediments that you have to take on being a soldier in the war, and magnifies it to the scale it is to actually face them as a soldier. Owen takes parts of their daily routine, like walking to the dug-out and describes it the way it is without adding any nobleness which it had often been often described to be like. As these are just few of the many difficulties soldiers faced, we empathise with the soldiers as we realise that there are many more problems just like these that the soldiers will face.
Nirmal Jethwa English Coursework Mr. Boyce 10 C
