War poetry analysis
Stage 2 English Communications – War Poetry
War has an everlasting effect on the entire world, but the one group of people that have the worst experience are those that are on the frontline – the soldiers. They are often glorified and portrayed to be patriots for their country, which is frequently conveyed through poetry. I disagree with this view, and the following three poems written by past soldiers support my view on war.
Siegfried Sassoon is a renowned World War 1 poet who was in service from 1914 to 1917, when he then took a stand against the conduct of war. When Sassoon first began writing his poetry, he did so with an air of romance and sweetness. After becoming horrified by the reality of war, his writing then became increasingly brutal to convey the truth and ugliness of war in order to crush the glorification and patriotism that is associated with it.
Suicide in the Trenches was written during Sassoon’s military service and published in his 1918 collection of literary work, and is a self-explanatory title for what the following poem is about. It is written in 3 4-lined stanza’s and has the rhyming pattern AABBCCDDEEFF. Alliteration is a favoured technique used by Sassoon, along with the use of adjectives, imagery, contrast, symbolism,
‘I knew a simple soldier boy’ is the opening line of the poem. Boy is used as a way to convey the soldier’s innocence and youthfulness, in comparison to him being referred to as a man. Sassoon’s use of the word simple tells us that the soldier has not a care in the world – he is happy, carefree, naïve and doesn’t understand the depth of the severity of war. ‘Empty joy’ is used a way to convey that the soldier smiles at everything – he’s young, has no worries and this gives a notion of how immature he must have been. The loneliness of the dark can often feel isolating, and the soldier was able to sleep soundly, which can imply that after he sees the battlefront, dark means a threat of an attack, thus making him
War has an everlasting effect on the entire world, but the one group of people that have the worst experience are those that are on the frontline – the soldiers. They are often glorified and portrayed to be patriots for their country, which is frequently conveyed through poetry. I disagree with this view, and the following three poems written by past soldiers support my view on war.
Siegfried Sassoon is a renowned World War 1 poet who was in service from 1914 to 1917, when he then took a stand against the conduct of war. When Sassoon first began writing his poetry, he did so with an air of romance and sweetness. After becoming horrified by the reality of war, his writing then became increasingly brutal to convey the truth and ugliness of war in order to crush the glorification and patriotism that is associated with it.
Suicide in the Trenches was written during Sassoon’s military service and published in his 1918 collection of literary work, and is a self-explanatory title for what the following poem is about. It is written in 3 4-lined stanza’s and has the rhyming pattern AABBCCDDEEFF. Alliteration is a favoured technique used by Sassoon, along with the use of adjectives, imagery, contrast, symbolism,
‘I knew a simple soldier boy’ is the opening line of the poem. Boy is used as a way to convey the soldier’s innocence and youthfulness, in comparison to him being referred to as a man. Sassoon’s use of the word simple tells us that the soldier has not a care in the world – he is happy, carefree, naïve and doesn’t understand the depth of the severity of war. ‘Empty joy’ is used a way to convey that the soldier smiles at everything – he’s young, has no worries and this gives a notion of how immature he must have been. The loneliness of the dark can often feel isolating, and the soldier was able to sleep soundly, which can imply that after he sees the battlefront, dark means a threat of an attack, thus making him