Poetry Of The First World War

The First World War broke out on the 4th of august 1914. It was the first major war in Britain for hundreds of years it sparked fantasies of becoming a war hero in young boys and men’s minds and because the government had assured everyone that the war would be over by Christmas, those young boys and men decided to join up in an attempt not to miss the excitement of war. Little did they know that they were being led to an untimely death by the hands of Germany.

Poets were also just as patriotic as the men going to die fight. Because of this patriotism the poets wrote about how glamorous the war was and how good it felt to die for ones country. This was all in an attempt along with many others such as propaganda to keep the number of men high enough to replace those who were lost. These men did see action but they were all mainly middle class people and so were given high ranks such as major and so only gave orders and never really had to do much fighting. Because of this they did not see the true horrors of war and carried on writing patriotic poems.

Fortunately for men still joining the war some poets such as Wilfred Owen did see the horrors of war and wrote very unpatriotic poems such as dulce et decorum est which was one of his most famous poems. It is also featured in this essay along with disabled also written by Wilfred Owen, the soldier written by Rupert Brookes and the volunteer written by Herbert Asquith.

THE VOLUNTEER BY HERBERT ASQUITH

The poem tells about how good war was and how good it was to die for your country: “and in that high hour he lived and died” he says that the greatest point in a mans life is when he dies for his country. Although he never saw battle or the horrors that come with war, which made him slightly hypocritical as he says war is great but he never experienced it.

Herbert Asquith believed that fighting in the war was a great deed, which would mean that he who died would need no “hearse to bear him hence who goes to join the men of Agincourt”. Or in English the men who died fighting for their country would not need any sort of ceremony to get him to heaven to join the men of a battle which took place in the 14 hundreds between the French and the British. The British decimated the French although they were outnumbered by over 4 to 1. Asquith believed highly that to die for ones country was one of the most noble and honorable thing which a man could do.

In his poems Asquith uses great images of Roman wars to glamorize war: “the gleaming eagles of the legions came” this creates a picture in the readers minds of the glorious times when the Roman army was the greatest power on earth. And seta off young men’s minds thinking about how they could become great war heroes. And so was a great encouragement for them to sign their lives away.

Asquith firm believer that dieing for your country was reward enough and men who died for their country would die happy: “and falling thus he wants no ...

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Asquith firm believer that dieing for your country was reward enough and men who died for their country would die happy: “and falling thus he wants no recompense” the soldier in the poem has just been killed and the poem tells of his last thought which are that he does not want anything like a funeral because he believes that his death was reward enough.

From this poem (the volunteer) I can tell that Herbert Asquith was an extremely patriotic man who harbored a deep love for his country and would do anything to help it in any way, including persuading young men to be led to their death. I also think that Herbert was not trying to persuade young men to die because he never saw the horrors of war as a result of his political status and so just did it out of his love for England. Because of his inexperience of war Asquith wrote patriotic poems but if he had seen battle I believe that it would be a totally different story because after seeing the harrowing images of battle no man could write blatant lies.

THE SOLDIER BY RUPERT BROOKES

From the poem I can tell that Brookes thought very highly of himself and his country “a pulse in the eternal mind” he believes that for dying for his country would make up for all his sins in his life and he would become at one with god.” a body of England breathing English air” he believes that he is part of England and wherever he is he is breathing English air. “…There’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England…” he says that wherever he dies that place in which he dies will be a part of England because he thinks that he is a part of England.

He wants to be remembered as part of England “if I should die think only this of me that there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England” he is saying that he does not want anything but to be remembered as being part of England.

Rupert Brookes believes that if he died while fighting for England he would be giving something back “gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given.” He is so grateful for what England has given him he wants to repay the favour and by fighting for his country he believes that he will have done so.

I think that brookes believes that he should give something back to England and has believes that his country is beautiful and deserves to be defended be it’s people. “ a dust which bore shaped and made aware gave once her flowers to love her ways to roam…washed by the rivers ,blessed by the suns of home.” He writes a lot about his deep love of England and how he regards it as the greatest place on earth. “ In that rich earth a richer dust concealed.” Because he is English he thinks that if he dies and decomposes the earth in which he is buried if it is not English the dust which he turns to will be richer than he French dust in which he died.

From this poem I can tell that Rupert Brookes has a very deep love for England and believes that he is part of it. Because of this he thinks very highly of himself. He also believes that dying for England would give something back and would cause you to be at one with god.and in death he wants to be remembered as part of England.

DISABLED BY WOLFRED OWEN

Wilfred Owen was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, the son of a railway worker. He came under the influence of contemporary French poetry. He enlisted in 1915 becoming a second lieutenant of the Manchester regiment. He was wounded three times while he was in France and was diagnosed with shell shock. In may 1917 and in June he was sent to the craiglockhart war hospital in Edinburgh. There he met Siegfried Sassoon. Siegfried Sassoon encouraged Owen to write poetry about how he felt about the war and so Owen did.

Owen wrote about not how much he hated England but how much he hated the war. ”They wrote his lie smiling” he makes the men who are signing him up sound evil because they know that they are commencing a man who is too young to join, to death.

Owen was an angry poet who did all he could to discourage men from enlisting “legless sewn short at the elbow…” he created disturbing images in the readers minds so that they could know a part of the horror which he and thousands of men had suffered. This made him angry at the government for not stopping the war and he did this the best way he knew how and that was to try and stop people recruiting because if there were no soldiers to fight the Germans there could be no war.

He hated the disastrous effects of war such as men who were “legless sewn short at the elbow” and other horrific injuries, which were sustained during fighting for ones country. His poems held no punches and caused thoughts in peoples minds, which could scare the devil during Halloween.

He also hated the arrogance of people who cheer a goal scored more that a man who has just offered his life for his country and to save their lives. “ Some cheered him home but not as crowds cheer goals.” Owen hated how people just expected men to join up but did not give them any gratitude for it.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

This is probably the most famous poem about the war let alone written by Wilfred Owen. It is also the most anger filled and graphic poem which I have read. With lines like “bent double like old men under sacks” this creates even more disturbing images in the mind of the reader than his poem, disabled does.

In my opinion the poem makes it sound as if Owen is out to once and for all change everybody’s opinion of war once and for all. The part of the poem which I find most disturbing is”…he plunges at me guttering, chocking, drowning” this part tells of one of Owens’ comrades drowning out of water after a gas attack. Unfortunately he did not get his gas mask on and so he suffered an excruciatingly painful death. This is so emotional because the reader imagines being Owen and not being able to do anything to ease the pain of the helpless man.

The poem creates such an emotional feeling from the reader because of the relentless sickening images created with words. ”if you could hear at every jolt the blood come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs.”

This describes how the soldier who was unlucky enough to be caught in a gas attack being drove away still alive and have blood come from his lungs which have filled with water.

The poem tells us that Owen did not like the poets who still used “the old lie” dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” which means that it is sweet and right to die for your country because he believed that it was not sweet nor right to die for any country. This gives the poem a very sarcastic title, as it is the exact opposite of what the poem describes.

Wilfred Owen may have loved his country but he hated the fact that it encouraged young men to sign their life away and be killed by a German. And he would do all he could to prevent it. He had the exact opposite views of the two patriotic poets featured in this essay as they encouraged men to join the army and they loved their country and believed that it was worth not only dying but condemning other men to die just so that it would no be ruled by Germans.