war peom analysis

War poem analysis
The soldier and anthem for doomed youth
The theme in ‘the soldier’ is power, you can tell this because in the poem the author talks about the better side to the war and how it would be a great achievement to die whilst fighting for your country, how it would be an honour to die for England and also what he would want if he were to die, for example ‘in hearts at peace, under an English heaven’ is talking about once the war was over there would be peace. It is also suggesting that England is like heaven and that England is a very powerful country to be fighting for. However in ‘anthem for doomed youth’ portrays the war from a very different aspect. It tells us more about what the war would have been like and probably the more truthful side to the war. It states that the war was a horrible place to be, and it suggests that if you were to die during the war you would have an ugly, painful death. In the poem it quotes ‘what passing – bells for these who die as cattle?’ which could be conveying that people were treated like animals, being kept in horrific conditions with barely enough food and drink to go around. ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ tells us there were not many sounds apart from the gunshots, it states ‘the monstrous anger of the guns’ and ‘the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle’. The plot in ‘the soldier’ communicates that men were happy to die for their country, felling as though by dying it would honour their country. In the poem it uses the word ‘heaven’ which describes England as a heavenly place to be and that it is a patriotic place to be, whereas ‘anthem for doomed youth’ advises us that young men were being killed by the other countries and how there were many legitimate young men were being barbarically, ferociously murdered. It could also represent the violence in the war and most probably the reality of the war.
The imagery in ‘the soldier’ displays personification throughout the poem for example, ‘thoughts by England’ because