Battlefield

By Richard AldingtonPage 200

Richard Aldington

• Richard Aldington was born on 8th July, 1892 in Hampshire. He was educated for four years at Dover College and then for one year at the University of London. He was a British writer and poet who wrote nearly 100 books, collections of verse and essays and translated several others.

• During the Great War, Aldington enlisted in the British Army in 1916 at the age of 24. He was stationed at Dorsetshire until December.

• He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Sussexs in 1917. He fought on the Western Front and was badly wounded. Mentally, he never recovered from his wartime experiences and the psychological trauma he suffered from was never properly treated which permanently affected his personality and behaviour.

• Influenced by his experiences of war Aldington wrote the novel, ‘Death of

a Hero’ which illustrates the impact of war on a soldier's civilian life. The story explores the isolation of a young soldier, George Winterbourne, upon his return home on a leave of absence.

• Some of his other work includes ‘In the Trenches’, ‘Impotent’, ‘Images of War’ and ‘Images of Desire’.

‘Battlefield’

Image of war

Death

Destruction

Violence

Fighting Soldier

s

Artillery/guns

Themes

• Death• Conflict• Effect of war• Realities of war• Loss• Destruction

The wind is piercing chillAnd blows fine grains of snow

Over this shell-rent ground;Every house in sight

Is smashed and desolate.

It is not just the war that is harming the soldiers, the weather is also affecting them.

Cutting through them/sharp.

No man’s land or the battlefield.

Empty, abandoned, destroyed.

Violent

Uses the senses in order to help the reader picture the battlefield.

Almost as if the ground has been punctured by the shells similar to how soldiers would be punctured by bullets hence the violent imagery.

Snow is white which is used to represent purity and innocence contrasting with the battle which is full of killing and destruction. Also the towns are no longer innocent as they have been destroyed. Furthermore, snow falls from the sky emphasising nature and possibly God.

Houses are symbolic of the home and the family so by destroying homes, families are forced to move elsewhere emphasising the emptiness of the town.

Nature, normally fine grains of sand.

But in this fruitless land,Thorny with wire

And foul with rotting clothes and sacks,

The crosses flourish-

Fruitless can also mean failing to achieve the desired results, in this case the war is not creating peace, it is causing death and destruction.

Destruction caused by fighting such as all vegetation being destroyed.

Something harsh/ will harm you. Thorns of a rose which could symbolise pain and the colour red could mean blood or death.

Continuously growing. Bold/ can not be missed. Contrasts to fruitless.

Decomposing of dead bodies. Aldington does not directly mention the dead bodies which could suggest it is too painful or traumatic to recall.

Graves to remember those that have died.

Polluted/ unpleasant/immoralThe senses: smell

The only thing that is growing is the crosses.

Ci-gît, Ci-gît, Ci-gît…‘Ci-gît I soldat Allemand,

Priez pour lui.’

This means: Here lies, here lies, here lies… Here lies a German soldier, Pray for him.

Aldington suggests that although he is not a German soldier himself, he wants the reader to remember those who died as we are all human beings and are equals.Also it implies that Aldington was against the war and fighting as he does not express any feelings of joy that the enemy is dead. The tone is mournful and sombre as if he is remembering his own friends that have died as well as the Germans who have died too. Aldington decided to write the last few lines in French although talking about German soldiers which could be because the battle may have taken place in France such as in the Somme. The soldiers have also been buried in French soil so by using the French language it may be a sign of respect to those that have died.

Repetition of ‘here lies’ could represent the great number of deaths. Gives the impression that there were dead bodies and graves everywhere hence ‘the crosses flourish’.

Ellipsis is used which could suggest its painful to continue or that there are so many graves its impossible to count them all.

Structure

• Aldington only uses two stanzas both of which are very short. This could represent the death of the soldiers as their lives may have been ended quickly and possibly routinely dealt with; similar to the scene described in ‘Regeneration’ by Pat Barker.

• Furthermore Aldington uses frequent punctuation which could be to break up the poem implying that he is finding it difficult to recall or describe the event.

• The last line of the poem is written in italics which may be because Aldington wants his message to stand out and capture the attention of the reader.