War Poetry

Poetic devices you will need to know for this unit: Allusion Alliteration Personification Metaphor Extended metaphor Simile Irony Hyperbole Onomatopoeia Rhyme scheme Stanza Symbolism Rhetorical question Narrative poem

Theme Oxymoron Imagery Tone Mood Sonnet Euphemism Apostrophe Octave Sestet

If you are uncertain what these mean, a good website to help you is http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/glossary_of_poetic_terms.htm

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Device being used

Example

Explain the effect

What poetic device is the poet using? For example, Metaphor? Alliteration? Hyperbole?

Usually a quotation supporting your idea

Why has the author chosen to use those words? What is the effect on the audience?

As you answer questions about the poems, you will be occasionally asked to use the DEE approach below to respond. Familiarize yourself with what this is. The next slide shows how you would apply it to a line of poetry…

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“What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”

Apply the DEE approach to the above line from “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen uses a simile to describe the soldiers dying in battle.

He writes that the soldiers “die as cattle”.

This simile is effective because it shows that Owen feels that the men were dying without dignity and that the amount of men dying was like the number of cattle being slaughtered.

Jessie Pope Jessie Pope (1868-1941) was an English poet who

was well known for her “patriotic motivational war poems,” (PoemHunter, 2012) during WWI.

At this time in history many believed it was honourable and exciting to fight in the war and they greeted the experience with great eagerness.

Most of her poetry was published in The Daily Mail, which at the time supported enlistment and “handed a white feather to youths who would not join the colours.” (http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/whitefeathers.htm)

Now read the poem ‘Who’s for the game’ (Jessie Pope)

Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played, The red crashing game of a fight?Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’?Who’ll give his country a hand?Who wants a turn to himself in the show?And who wants a seat in the stand?Who knows it won’t be a picnic – not much-Yet eagerly shoulders a gun?

Who would much rather come back with a crutchThan lie low and be out of the fun?Come along, lads –But you’ll come on all right –For there’s only one course to pursue,Your country is up to her neck in a fight,And she’s looking and calling for you.                                                        - Jessie Pope

8 marks1) What extended metaphor

does the poet create in this poem? How does she do this? Give two examples.

2) How does the poet try to persuade men to sign up to fight?

3) What effect does the use of rhetorical questions have?

4) The poet uses a friendly, conversational manner in the poem, what effect does this have on the reader?

5) Apply the DEE approach to three different lines. Please use three different poetic devices!

Life as a Soldier

Many soldiers in World War 1 expressed their thoughts and feelings about the war in poetry. The following poems are by them.

Rupert Chawner Brooke was born in Rugby on August 3rd 1887. He went to Cambridge University and was a good

poet.

In 1911 his first book of poetry was published.

In 1915 he was asked to join the Royal Navy by Winston Churchill, and he

accepted.

Brooke sailed to Gallipoli to fight the Turks. He was pleased about this as he had always wanted to do battle with

the Turks

“I suddenly realised that the ambition of my life

has been - since I was two - to go on a military

expedition against the Turks.“- Rupert Brooke, 1915

Rupert Brooke.

At 4:46pm on the 23rd April 1915, St George’s Day, Rupert Brooke died of blood poisoning on a French hospital ship moored in the bay of the Greek island of Skyros. 

“We buried him in the same evening in an olive-grove where he had sat with us on Tuesday - one of the loveliest places on this earth, with grey green olives round

him, one weeping above his head…”

More about Brooke

“1914V: The Soldier” - Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:That there's some corner of a foreign fieldThat is for ever England. There shall beIn that rich earth a richer dust concealed;A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,A body of England's, breathing English air,Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,A pulse in the eternal mind, no lessGives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

8 marks1) What kind of image does

Brooke provide of England? Give three specific examples.

2) What kind of feelings would this evoke in a British soldier? Why?

3) Explain how death is portrayed.

4) This poem is written in the form of a sonnet. Which type of sonnet? How do you know?

5) What is the typical subject of a sonnet? Why do you think Brooke chose this form for this poem?

6) Apply the DEE approach to three different lines. Please use three different poetic devices!

- English and Welsh poet and soldier.

- One of the leading poets of the First World War.

- Shocking, realistic war poetry, which focused on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare.

- A stark contrast to the public perception of war at the time. Not overly patriotic, as people expected.

Wilfred Owen

More about Owen In May 1917, Owen was

diagnosed with shell-shock, and he was sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital, near Edinburgh

By day the hospital was a relatively pleasant place but at night the atmosphere changed

The patients were tormented by their experiences and Owen was woken up frequently by the screams of the men around him.

Once Owen recovered he was sent out to fight once more.

He was sent to the front line and was killed in action on 4th November 1918. A week later the war ended.

His family received notification of his death on the 11th of November, the day the war ended.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” – Wilfred Owen

7 marks

How does the poetry to capture the sounds and atmosphere of the battlefield where the soldiers died? Use 2 quotations from the octet to support your answer.

  Why do you think religious words

are used in the octet? What is the poet trying to say about organized religion and its relevance to the soldiers?

  Which words used in the sestet

would we associate with a funeral? What do the young soldiers have instead of afuneral? Why are these two ideas contrasted in the sestet?

What passing-bells2 for these who die as cattle? 

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.  Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle  Can patter out3 their hasty orisons.4 No mockeries5 now for them; no prayers nor

bells;  Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, – The shrill, demented6 choirs of wailing shells;  And bugles7 calling for them from sad shires.8   What candles9 may be held to speed them all?  Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes  Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.  The pallor10 of girls' brows shall be their pall;  Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,  And each slow dusk11 a drawing-down of

blinds.12

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Sassoon (1886 – 1967) was an English poet and author. He became

known as a writer of satirical anti-war verse during World War I

He was an exceptionally brave Officer and he won the Military Cross in 1916, when he single-handedly bombed and captured a German trench.

He got wounded in the War several times. In hospital he met and encouraged the poet Wilfred Owen.

His critical views of the War's continuation hardened and at a certain point he threw away his Military Cross ribbon. He became an oustpoken public critic of the War, which was then equal to treason.

He detested the slaughter and misconduct of the War by generals and politicians. His poems aimed to tell the truth about war. He particularly wanted to upset "Blood thirsty civilians and those who falsely glorified the war.“

Still, he was sent back to War in January 1918. When he got wounded to the head he remained on indefinite sick leave and he retired from the army officially in March that year.

“Does it Matter?” - Siegfried Sassoon

Does it matter? – Siegfried Sassoon   Does it matter?—losing your legs?... For people will always be kind, And you need not show that you mind When the others come in after hunting To gobble their muffins and eggs.   Does it matter?—losing your sight?... There’s such splendid work for the blind; And people will always be kind, As you sit on the terrace remembering And turning your face to the light.   Do they matter?—those dreams from the

pit?... You can drink and forget and be glad, And people won’t say that you’re mad; For they’ll know you’ve fought for your

country And no one will worry a bit.

5 marks

1. Sassoon pretends to agree with the civilian attitudes. Which lines show this pretence?

2. The poem is ironic. What is it criticising?

3. What is the effect of the repetition of ‘People will always be kind’?

4. Apply the DEE approach to three different lines.

“ Suicide in the Trenches” – Siefried Sassoon

5 marks

Describe the young soldier.

What contributed to his collapse?

Why did "no one speak of him again"?

Who is the target for Sassoon's anger in the last verse?

This is a simple but precise poem. Which words are well chosen? Why is the brilliant last line so forceful?

I knew a simple soldier boy..... Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome

dark, And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. And no one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you'll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.

“Hero” - Siegfried Sassoon

5 marks

Explain the irony in this poem

What is this saying about the perspective of war for those who stayed at home v. the reality of war.

How does the poem "The Hero" by Siegfried Sassoon expose the hypocrisy that surrounds war?

Apply the DEE approach to three lines in the poem.

'Jack fell as he'd have wished,' the Mother said,And folded up the letter that she'd read. 'The Colonel writes so nicely.' Something brokeIn the tired voice that quavered to a choke.She half looked up. 'We mothers are so proudOf our dead soldiers.' Then her face was bowed.

Quietly the Brother Officer went out.He'd told the poor old dear some gallant liesThat she would nourish all her days, no doubt.For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyesHad shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy,Because he'd been so brave, her glorious boy.

He thought how 'Jack', cold-footed, useless swine,Had panicked down the trench that night the mineWent up at Wicked Corner; how he'd tried To get sent home, and how, at last, he died,Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care Except that lonely woman with white hair.

John McCrae

https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/john-mccrae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GalJQY3PaQk

Please watch these two videos on Canadian soldier, John McCrae:

“In Flanders Fields” – John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset

glow, Loved and were loved, and now we

lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies

grow In Flanders fields.

5 marks This poem is considered a

sonnet though it doesn’t completely fit – how does it differentiate from the format of a sonnet? Why do you think it is still called one?

Apply the DEE approach to three different lines.

Why do you think this poem has become the most famous from WW 1? Why does it appeal to people? What is it saying?

Copy out this chart and compare the poems listed.

Content (What is it about?)

Tone (What is the mood of the poem?) Give a couple of examples.What is the theme of the poem? What does the poet believe about war?

The Soldier

Does it Matter?

HeroWho’s For the Game?

In Flanders Fields

Anthem for Doomed Youth

24 marks