There is good use of punctuation I found the poem easy to read. The characters are strong and very unhappy to be apart and obviously missing each other and know that at any time this could be there last letter to each other.
The tone and the mood in the poem is both sad and happy I say this because the soldier was happy about his letters and the gift of apples and the silver Easter egg but also in the same letter he was very unhappy about the coming battle the other character in the poem is also saddened about the coming battle and missing the loved one who is facing the battle knowing that this could be the very last time they will ever have any contact.
The poem was trying to get across that Easter Monday will be a day that the person left at home will never forget as it was the day that the soldier died. The last three letters that had been written will never be delivered and never be read it was almost as if the soldier new he was going to die because he said good bye in his last letter “This is the eve. Good-bye.”
War girls
Jessie pope
On my first read through of war girls I noticed the strong message it gives out about the women going out and doing the jobs that the men at war would usually do in that day and age women would be at home with the children and not allowed to go out to work even if they wanted to. The women are happy to be out at work doing there bit for the country and to support there men this is suggested in the poem “no longer caged and penned up they’re going to keep their end up.”
“Strong sensible and fit” is used in the poem this was usually on the occupation posters at this time and its use in war girls signifies that the women are out to prove they can do the jobs and keep things running when the men are out at war “they’re out to show their grit,” also makes me think this.
There is some use of rhyme in war girls “no longer caged and penned up.”
They’re going to keep their end up.” Also at the end of each verse “till the khaki soldier boys come marching back” Gives the poem some rhythm.
The use of sound in war girls is good it gives you a visual of what it must have been like to hear the women calling “all fairs please!’ like a man and the girl who whistles taxies up the street.”
There is good use of punctuation making the poem easy to read I enjoyed the whole poem.
There are lots of different characters in this poem its not just about one character.
The tone in war girls is strong and puts across statement of women in men’s roles and the poem is trying to get across that women went out there an did all the jobs that men do and that some how women had to work harder to prove they could cope without the men they did this and I think that most of them enjoyed doing there work and felt useful and not tied to the kitchen sink with children tied to there apron strings.
Looking at the two poems I can see that they are very different but are also very similar they both look at how women have to cope with the effects of war, Easter Monday is more of a sad poem about coping with death were war girls is about the affects of war on the work force when men are sent to war.
When I read war girls I think it sounded more like a poem because of the way it had rhythm and rhyme were Easter Monday sounds more like the poet was righting a letter or as I said before an entry in a diary.
I really didn’t like Easter Monday as I found it very sad I can’t imagine how it would have felt coping with the anguish and the thought of never seeing or hearing from your loved one again.
War girls has a good choice and use of words and how it describes what is happening you can almost imagine you are there in the situation watching the daily routine going on as normal but with the women doing the jobs that the men would do.
I feel in this poem the women rather enjoyed there new found role and the freedom as many women were not allowed to work in those days but also they had some part in helping the country survive a devastating war. Both the poets wrote there poems about a very unhappy time not only for the men at war but how hard it was for the women the poets them selves to be left at home to cope with the unknown.
