Jessie Pope
An analysis of Who’s for the Game? By Jessie Pope
War is a highly debatable topic that has influenced many poets. An issue that is important in Jessie Pope’s 1914 poem Who’s for the game? This essay will explore a range of literary devices used within the poem to help analyse the explicit and implicit meanings. Furthermore, it will use appropriate literacy terminology to back up quotes within the poem. Additionally, this essay will analyse the structure of the poem to show how meaning is conveyed.
Pope, a naive poet, speaks of a highly debatable topic known to man. However, she makes reference to the war as being a game, she suggests that it is “The biggest that’s played” though, she does not anticipate the destruction which war may bring. The poem is reliant on propaganda which relied heavily on men’s guilt. It could be seen that this encouraged men to fight and defend their county. This is shown through a literary device, a metaphor. An example being, “And who wants a seat in the stand” the use of this device prominently states that spectating the war will result in deepest regret because they are not defending their country. It could be suggested that the emphasis of the metaphor helped influence men’s participation in the war. Arguably, though Pope promotes the so called glory of war, it is seen that not protecting their country could result in an invasion. Here, Pope addresses that without soldiers at war, their country could be destroyed. Alternatively, Pope makes use of personification indicating the realism of war. She writes, “Your country is up to her neck in a fight”. Here, the poet personifies their country as a woman, implying that the war is at its most extreme. This addresses the men that their country needs them the most at this point in time. In contrast, it is clear that the implicit meaning of this literary device exposes the brutality of war, vicious and scary.
Jessie Pope has written her poem in a conversational manner making “Who’s for
War is a highly debatable topic that has influenced many poets. An issue that is important in Jessie Pope’s 1914 poem Who’s for the game? This essay will explore a range of literary devices used within the poem to help analyse the explicit and implicit meanings. Furthermore, it will use appropriate literacy terminology to back up quotes within the poem. Additionally, this essay will analyse the structure of the poem to show how meaning is conveyed.
Pope, a naive poet, speaks of a highly debatable topic known to man. However, she makes reference to the war as being a game, she suggests that it is “The biggest that’s played” though, she does not anticipate the destruction which war may bring. The poem is reliant on propaganda which relied heavily on men’s guilt. It could be seen that this encouraged men to fight and defend their county. This is shown through a literary device, a metaphor. An example being, “And who wants a seat in the stand” the use of this device prominently states that spectating the war will result in deepest regret because they are not defending their country. It could be suggested that the emphasis of the metaphor helped influence men’s participation in the war. Arguably, though Pope promotes the so called glory of war, it is seen that not protecting their country could result in an invasion. Here, Pope addresses that without soldiers at war, their country could be destroyed. Alternatively, Pope makes use of personification indicating the realism of war. She writes, “Your country is up to her neck in a fight”. Here, the poet personifies their country as a woman, implying that the war is at its most extreme. This addresses the men that their country needs them the most at this point in time. In contrast, it is clear that the implicit meaning of this literary device exposes the brutality of war, vicious and scary.
Jessie Pope has written her poem in a conversational manner making “Who’s for