Please develop a discussion here on poetry from 'Scars Upon My Heart'. You may want to start by commenting on the poetry of Jessie Pope and her attitude towards war.
In Marian Allen's "the raiders" and Lilian M.Anderson's "leave in 1917" both mention flying and specifically wings as both poems surround similar feelings about their husbands as pilots in the war. In "the raiders" it mentions "wings" in this poem the wings are described as being plane wings and in "leave in 1917" it says "swept the still wings" again descibing plane wings. However wings can be used to show freedom and a liberating feeling of being safe above the earth and above the horrors happening in the trenches.
I think both Allen and Anderson have accepted war and are trying to deal with it. Both thier poems don't encourge or discourage poeple to join war, their attitudes are not as extreme as other poets such as Pope and Sasson. The idea they both are trying to cope could be represented by the planes in 'The Raiders' and 'Leave in 1917' where the planes can escape war, where Allen and Anderson hope they could escape war too.
The themes of Religion and God are quite significant in Allen and Anderson's poems In 'The Wind on the Downs' it talks about the 'new kingdoms you explore' and in 'Leave in 1917' it says 'God! he prayed'. These show how God helped them cope and gives them hope throughout the war. Furthermore adding to the point of 'flying' context plays a big part into why they may have wrote so optimistically about it , as it was one of the first times it was used in warfare and was a very new and exciting topic at the time.
Both writers treat war as something adventurous - "The engines throb with thrilled expectant breath" "The wheeling, watching, searching lamps of war" - but still a very dangerous one, and they obviously both feared for their loved ones - "stings of death" "Moonligh and Death were on the narrow seas". Both writers have strong themes of love in their poems, specifically in 'The Wind on the Downs' and the last stanzas of 'Leave in 1917' - "Yet loving all the things I think of you" "Love came to them, poor love" - but the love is tinged with sadness, in the first poem because the man is dead, in the second because the couple know they don't have much time together. This isn't suprising since both women lost their husbands in the war. I'd say both writers have similar emotions and themes, it's just their writing styles are very different - Allan uses quite simple rhyme structures and her poems feel rhythmic, Anderson has a very narrative style with no rhyming.
Both poems 'The Wind On The Downs' by Marian Allen and 'Perhaps' by Vera Britten are written by Women who are experiencing loss of a spouse they both poets use idyllic imagery of typical places found in England. The imagery is a huge contrast to the kind of horrific images that men saw while serving in the war. This imagery in both poems could link to faith and a place where both men have gone to now. For example in 'The Wind On The Downs' Allen mentions 'And when I leave the meadow, almost wait' and similarly Brittain writes 'the golden meadows at my feet'- 'meadows' are very typical English places and 'golden' gives a very picturesque image of the meadow. In contrast Brittains poem also concentrates in the differences in the seasons and has the underlying idea that everything dies but also that things blossom again.
Both 'The Lament of the Demobilised' by Vera Brittain, and 'Education' by Pauline Barrington aim to highlight the obliviousness of particularly women on the homefront, and criticize the way in which men were treated when they returned home from war. 'The Lament of the Demobilised' reveals the sheer blissful ignorance of people back home; 'it must have been a very fine experience for you!' This reflects the common idea of the time that men simply enjoyed serving their country and would return the same men they were before they left. Pauline Barrington uses a repetitive pattern of 2 indented lines at the end of each stanza, beginning with 'while you...' uderlining the idea of women on the homefront going about their own lives oblivious to the war. The repetitive effect of the 2 lines creates a chorus like feel, further emphasizing the key point and causing it to have a larger impact on the reader.
both 'The wind on the downs' and 'The parson's job'are similar in the fact that both women are widows and have lost their partners to the horrors of war. However both poems differ in how the women react to their loss and the routes they go down in order to grieve. 'The parsons job' appears very aggressive and makes religious remarks such as 'i hate your religion'. assuming the religion she is confronting is christianity, she seems to be speaking directly to god and showing psychotic and maybe unstable behaviour. similarly to this, 'the wind on the downs' also makes religious remarks such as 'the new kindoms you explore...'however in much more of a peaceful and coping manner. i think these poems repleft both aspects of how nwomen coped with loss of a partner during war and shows that at the time, many turned to religion in order to grieve.
For the idea of religion, 'The Wind on the Downs' could also be compared to 'Over the Top' which has a strong sense of religion. Particularly in the last stanza, when we hear of a man coping with facing death by turning to God. The line, 'Well, who cares!' implies the man has come to terms with the fact he is either going to die or live and he cannot change what will happen, and almost casually shrugs it off. Although the line, 'Over the top- to Kingdom Come!' suggests the reason why this man appears calm is because he trust God and knows he will go to a better place after death. Bristowe compares the idea of heaven or afterlife to a kingdom, 'to Kingdom Come!', like Allen does in 'The Wind on the Downs', 'And wonder what new kingdoms you explore.' Both use this comparsion of death to a kingdom to help face death as it makes death appear less frightening. I think by Bristowe placing the phrase after 'Over the Top-' shows the fact many men turned to God, even if they were not religious, before going over the top in order to find reasurrance that death was moving onto somewhere better and God would be there for them.
'Leave in 1917' by Lilian M. Anderson uses idyllic imagery, especially towards the last 3 stanzas. She uses words associated with Spring time and colours that represent lushness within England. This is very similar with 'Perhaps' by Vera Brittain who also uses colour and the seasons to represent feelings throughout the poem. However, both poems are written for different reasons, Perhaps is written for Vera Brittains fiancé who died in the war and 'Leave In 1917' is written about when a solider comes back from war. Even though the context is different for both, they use the idyllic imagery to create an image in the readers head to emphasise their feelings of how they feel and what they see.
'Education' by Pauline Barrington presents a cyclical poem due to the line 'While you sew/Row after row.' The cycle of the poem is created by using this line at the end of the first stanza and then end of the last stanza to create this repetition of war and how women saw what war was like. This is similar with 'Perhaps' by Vera Britain as the use of the seasons throughout the poem also creates a cycle to the poem going from summer 'sun' to spring 'blossom', autumn 'harvest fields' and winter 'Christmas'. The context of this poem is much different to 'Education' as 'perhaps' shows the love and loss she has for her husband she lost and the grief she is going through as it keeps on going.
'The Lament of the Demobilised' by Vera Brittain presents the ignorance of people back at home who are not in the war, the poem presents a more angry side of war and how it is. However in Veras other poems 'Perhaps' and 'To my Brother' she shows a much softer and sensitive side to war and to the loved ones lost. This contrast shows that Vera Brittain had many different feelings towards war yet her main thought was one of being against war as she was a pacifist
'Over the top' by Sybli Bristowe and 'The Wind on the Downs' by Marian Allen both portray a strong sense of religion throughout both poems. In 'Over the Top' the quote 'to Kingdom come!' suggests that they are going over the top to fight but to a kingdom which shows they are going to die and go to heaven with God. The use of 'kingdoms' in the 'The Wind on the Downs' shows also that the soldiers rely on God to keep them strong as they have no other hope to turn to.
'Perhaps' by Vera Brittain and 'The Wind on the Downs' both share a similar sense of grief and use similar language and imagery, particularly that of nature - the "canals" and "summer woods". They are also similar in the sense of loss - "Although You cannot hear" "I hear you laughing as you used to do". However, 'Perhaps' is more about the woman narrating, and her hope that one day she can find joy in life again, and 'The Wind on the Downs' focuses more on the dead man, as the woman wonders if he will live on, perhaps in Heaven, and find new "adventure".
Cannan's attitude towards war, is mixed in her poems, I think this is due to the fact that she had both experience on the home front and the Western Front. In 'Lamplight' her attitude is quite negative towards war, as she explains how it is not worth dying for war, 'And have no need of fame-'. Similarly in 'Rouen' her sympathy for the soldiers is clear, 'My heart goes out to Rouen. Rouen all the world away;' and her questioning the war is also clear, 'And the agony and splendour when they stood to save the King?' suggesting her negative outlook on war. However, in 'Since they have died' Cannan has a much more positive outlook on war, 'Since they have died to give us gentleness,' implying how she understands that war is necessary for them to carry on with their lives and to keep Britain safe. Perhaps this was encouraged by her time at her father's publishing business which published propaganda.
Religion is a common theme within many of the poems. In 'The Parson's Job' is about a grieving widow who turns away from God instead blaming him for her terrible loss. In contrast in 'Over the Top' in the first stanza it says 'say yer prayers' before they go over the top suggesting they, unlike the widow in 'The Parson's Job' turn to God in their time of need before they went over the top, which was not unusual for many people in the war. Another religious connotation within the poems are the connotations to heaven such as in 'Lamplight' where the poet describes death and whatever comes after as 'the road we never spoke of'. Similarly in 'The Wind on the Downs' the poet speaks f 'new kingdoms you explore', kingdoms giving connotations of some kind of afterlife.
'Munition Wages' by Madeline Ida Bedford and 'Women at Munition Making' by Mary Gabrielle Collins are two poems that would work well to compare and contrast with the idea of women working. Although they are both talking about the same topic they have opposite opinions. Whilst Bedford finds it 'dim sweet', Collins describes it as being 'bruised against the law', showing a strong negative opinion on working at munition factories was quite rare within women as they generally found it liberating.
'Munition Wages' by Bedford could also be used to compare against 'Education' by Barrington on their attitudes towards war, Barrington has an attitude of negativity towards war, while Bedford has a more positive outlook. In 'Education' this negativity about war is shown in Barrington's idea that war is affecting the children, 'The children play with soldiers made of tin,' she makes it quiet clear how she disagrees with the youth being roped into war, and by using children to portray this makes war seem even more horrendous because of the children's naivety. Barrington also compares war to an ongoing disastrous event, 'War is slipping, dripping death on earth.' The use of the 'ing', a continuous verb suggests war is this continuous evil, causing havoc and death on earth. Whereas in 'Munition Wages' the war is seen to represent new freedom found by women. Bedford explains all these new opportunities given to women, 'Five quid a week. A women, too, mind you,' implying how the war brought women freedom, a chance to earn more money and liberation. This attitude of living for the moment shows Bedford as thinking about the benefits of war, rather than it’s horror. However the idea in 'Education' of war bringing death to earth could also be compared to the underlying, more negative view of war in 'Munition Wages' Bedford realises that war may decide to end her life soon, 'We're all here today, mate, Tomorrow- perhaps dead,' Bedford understands the reality of war, but chooses to look at the brighter side, as the rhythm and fast pace of this poem, make this reality seem a lot less darker, than it actually is.
‘The Falling Leaves’ by Margaret Postgate Cole represents her feelings towards war by relating the soldiers to both snowflakes and leaves. These metaphors make the deaths of the soldiers more evident as they symbolise the sheer number of deaths that occurred on the battlefield. A similar technique is used in the poem ‘Afterwards’ where she uses the extended metaphor of soldiers as pit-props which highlights how the war turns them into useless beings and the idea that the world will never be the same after the war.
‘Afterwards’ is also similar to ‘lament of the demobilised’ as they both share the same idea that the war is pointless. This is also shown in Lament when she talks about ‘throwing four years into the melting pot’ and in ‘Afterwards’ when she says how the soldiers become useless after the war. However Vera Britain is talking about how the soldiers don’t get the glory that they deserve after returning and ‘Afterwards’ refers to the soldiers being useless and merely objects to support the armies work.
‘Afterwards’ has a wider perspective about soldiers on the battlefield but there is still an intensely personal nature. This is similar to the general theme that runs through the whole anthology that ‘you were here, and now you are dead.’ However, this isn’t as personal as some poems such as ‘Perhaps’ which is a direct elegy for her personal loss.
Afterwards echoes the nostalgic tone that is also represented in poems such as Lamplight and Rouen, the strong yearning for what once was, life before war. Like Lamplight it seems to be addressing a certain person, dreaming and reminiscing on the things they had planned to do together before war seized them. Also both poems seem to view war as being futile, and only having caused disruption and pain. Afterwards uses the idea of 'pit props' the soldiers doing someone elses job and becoming dead inside and in Lamplight it says 'for you gave your life away and I think my heart was broken by war', highlighting how war chewed up and spat out what meant most to them. I think Afterwards is a very strong poem and I like how it shows the contrast between the natural world and all it's sweet memories and gifts and man-made war and it's destruction both physically and mentally.
'Flanders Fields' by Elizabeth Daryush also mentions a lot about nature, similar to 'Leave in 1917'. However 'Flanders Fields' respents nature as being a constant memory of what happened during the war and how many people died. It says "carmined rose" in the first stanza which is a semantic field of war as crimson being the colour of blood and linking to the wounds and casualties during the war. Flanders Fields is the name of one of the WW1 battlefields and is a painful memory of the soldiers.
There is a huge contrast between the poems 'Unknown Warrior' and 'Perhaps' by Vera Brittain as Brittain wrote the poem in dedication to R.A.L her fiance dying, the poem talks about how life has changed now 'And autumn harvest fields a rich delight, Although You are not there'. As the poem is written in dedication it is very personal recognising the loss she is suffering. In contrast is 'Unknown Warrior' as this poem is literally about the Unknown Warrior buried in Westminster Abbey in recignition for all of those who were lost in the war and have not been found or have not got a name on their grave. Although Brittain is looking for recignition for the loss of her husband the voice in 'Unknown Warrior' is not looking for any recignition or any kind of reward for his sacrifice. For example 'May hang yet his laurels of rewnown'
'The Veteran' by Margaret Postgate Cole uses a volte face at the end of the poem to emphasise the impact war had on youth. The title would imply that the soldier she is talking about is old and although it is still awful that he would of had to fight a war, the idea of him being old makes this not appear as bad. However the use of the volte face at the end, 'And you're how old? Nineteen, the third of may.' Changes the view of the poem. The young soldier who has experienced war and still nightmares about it emphasises the lost and wasted youth of that time. By Cole ending the poem after those lines, the reader is left with the view that it is wrong to allow a soldier so young to experience something as horrofic as war. The view that war is having a major impact on youth could also be compared to 'Education' by Barrington. In this poem she talks about the impact of war on children on the homefront, 'The children play with soldiers made of tin,' the use of the word 'children' creates a horrofic image of war, as it is wrong that children are getting involved with the idea of fighting and killing and you would hope that the innocent children would not be affected by this.
'For a Survivor of The Mesopotamian Campaign' by Elizabeth Daryush shows a negative look on war and shows how war has changed them and left them deserted and almost puts it like a definition, "A desert:-those too who." It gives the impression that war was wasted and was pointless, it did not really solve anything and left unsolved and empty, "War's wasted era is a desert shore." The line, "slashing all life's beauty limb from limb" is very vivid imagery and "beauty" is an obvious contrast to war and strange word to be associated with it.
In Pauline Barringtons poem 'Education' (page 6) I think that there may be a hidden message and meaning within the seemingly repetitive nature of the poem. The first line of each stanza reads a distressing series of events that repeatedly happened to women on the home front. This is how I read the first lines of each stanza...
'The rain is slipping, dripping down the street' - This sets the scene as depressing and leaves the reader expecting something dark. 'The tears are slipping, dripping one by one'- Makes you picture a women at home crying over someone close to her going to war, whether it be her husband, brother or even close friend. 'The blood is slipping, dripping drop by drop.'- provokes images of a war scene and this woman losing someone close to her. 'The ink is slipping, dripping from the pens.' - Letters getting written home by the authorities to inform this woman of the death. 'War is slipping, dripping death on earth.' -This line almost confirms the death and is maybe the woman thinking about how petty and pointless war is.
This poem send out a definite anti-war message. it paints a picture of a lonely housewife having nothing to do but sew and mope about their houses. This poem is in a direct contrast with Madeline Ida Bedford's, 'Munition Wages.' (on page 7) which depicts a woman clearly loving her new found job and sending out a message of life on the home front being great and highly beneficial to her!
Both 'The Fallen' by Diana Gurney and 'A Fight to the Finish' by S. Gertrude Ford are written in favour of those lives sacrificed in the war; they see through the jingoistic propaganda and endless patriotism and present their poems to argue in favour of 'the wounded, maimed and blind'.
The poem, 'Nothing to Report', written by May Herschel-Clarke highlights the very non chalante and careless attitude the media and also many people at home had towards the thousands of lives sacrificed at war. it describes the life of many people as 'laughin' to give a happy and 'full of life' representation of the people who went into war. it say's 'one minute, he was laughin'... the next, he lay beside me grinnin'- dead'. i believe this shows the unpredictable nature of war and how not only the soldiers, but also the family and friends at home were deeply affected by it. I believe this poem has an extremely anti-war attitude and is similar to that of 'A Fight to the Finish' by S. Gertrude Ford. i suggest this because the use of the sentence 'War is good!yelled the jingo-kind: what said the wounded, the maimed and the blind?' shows that these poets saw beyond the jingoistic propaganda and endless patriotism of the media and arguably the army, and also that the voices of the wounded need to be heard. I believe that these two poems are similar in confronting the harsh and somewhat careless nature/attitude that the media had towards the men who went into war... Both poets highlight the fact that not everyone was mercyful, and how many were inconsiderate of how badly those really effected were infact effected.
Best Slot Machines for Players at the Next-Gen - DrmCAD The 군산 출장안마 next-generation graphics engine will bring classic reel slots 광양 출장샵 to 서산 출장샵 modern mobile devices. With 강릉 출장샵 the launch of the SEGA Master System 청주 출장샵 and
In Marian Allen's "the raiders" and Lilian M.Anderson's "leave in 1917" both mention flying and specifically wings as both poems surround similar feelings about their husbands as pilots in the war.
ReplyDeleteIn "the raiders" it mentions "wings" in this poem the wings are described as being plane wings and in "leave in 1917" it says "swept the still wings" again descibing plane wings.
However wings can be used to show freedom and a liberating feeling of being safe above the earth and above the horrors happening in the trenches.
I think both Allen and Anderson have accepted war and are trying to deal with it. Both thier poems don't encourge or discourage poeple to join war, their attitudes are not as extreme as other poets such as Pope and Sasson. The idea they both are trying to cope could be represented by the planes in 'The Raiders' and 'Leave in 1917' where the planes can escape war, where Allen and Anderson hope they could escape war too.
ReplyDeleteThe themes of Religion and God are quite significant in Allen and Anderson's poems In 'The Wind on the Downs' it talks about the 'new kingdoms you explore' and in 'Leave in 1917' it says 'God! he prayed'. These show how God helped them cope and gives them hope throughout the war. Furthermore adding to the point of 'flying' context plays a big part into why they may have wrote so optimistically about it , as it was one of the first times it was used in warfare and was a very new and exciting topic at the time.
ReplyDeleteBoth writers treat war as something adventurous - "The engines throb with thrilled expectant breath" "The wheeling, watching, searching lamps of war" - but still a very dangerous one, and they obviously both feared for their loved ones - "stings of death" "Moonligh and Death were on the narrow seas".
ReplyDeleteBoth writers have strong themes of love in their poems, specifically in 'The Wind on the Downs' and the last stanzas of 'Leave in 1917' - "Yet loving all the things I think of you" "Love came to them, poor love" - but the love is tinged with sadness, in the first poem because the man is dead, in the second because the couple know they don't have much time together. This isn't suprising since both women lost their husbands in the war.
I'd say both writers have similar emotions and themes, it's just their writing styles are very different - Allan uses quite simple rhyme structures and her poems feel rhythmic, Anderson has a very narrative style with no rhyming.
Both poems 'The Wind On The Downs' by Marian Allen and 'Perhaps' by Vera Britten are written by Women who are experiencing loss of a spouse they both poets use idyllic imagery of typical places found in England. The imagery is a huge contrast to the kind of horrific images that men saw while serving in the war. This imagery in both poems could link to faith and a place where both men have gone to now. For example in 'The Wind On The Downs' Allen mentions 'And when I leave the meadow, almost wait' and similarly Brittain writes 'the golden meadows at my feet'- 'meadows' are very typical English places and 'golden' gives a very picturesque image of the meadow. In contrast Brittains poem also concentrates in the differences in the seasons and has the underlying idea that everything dies but also that things blossom again.
ReplyDeleteBoth 'The Lament of the Demobilised' by Vera Brittain, and 'Education' by Pauline Barrington aim to highlight the obliviousness of particularly women on the homefront, and criticize the way in which men were treated when they returned home from war. 'The Lament of the Demobilised' reveals the sheer blissful ignorance of people back home; 'it must have been a very fine experience for you!' This reflects the common idea of the time that men simply enjoyed serving their country and would return the same men they were before they left. Pauline Barrington uses a repetitive pattern of 2 indented lines at the end of each stanza, beginning with 'while you...' uderlining the idea of women on the homefront going about their own lives oblivious to the war. The repetitive effect of the 2 lines creates a chorus like feel, further emphasizing the key point and causing it to have a larger impact on the reader.
ReplyDeleteboth 'The wind on the downs' and 'The parson's job'are similar in the fact that both women are widows and have lost their partners to the horrors of war. However both poems differ in how the women react to their loss and the routes they go down in order to grieve. 'The parsons job' appears very aggressive and makes religious remarks such as 'i hate your religion'. assuming the religion she is confronting is christianity, she seems to be speaking directly to god and showing psychotic and maybe unstable behaviour. similarly to this, 'the wind on the downs' also makes religious remarks such as 'the new kindoms you explore...'however in much more of a peaceful and coping manner. i think these poems repleft both aspects of how nwomen coped with loss of a partner during war and shows that at the time, many turned to religion in order to grieve.
ReplyDeleteFor the idea of religion, 'The Wind on the Downs' could also be compared to 'Over the Top' which has a strong sense of religion. Particularly in the last stanza, when we hear of a man coping with facing death by turning to God. The line, 'Well, who cares!' implies the man has come to terms with the fact he is either going to die or live and he cannot change what will happen, and almost casually shrugs it off. Although the line, 'Over the top- to Kingdom Come!' suggests the reason why this man appears calm is because he trust God and knows he will go to a better place after death. Bristowe compares the idea of heaven or afterlife to a kingdom, 'to Kingdom Come!', like Allen does in 'The Wind on the Downs', 'And wonder what new kingdoms you explore.' Both use this comparsion of death to a kingdom to help face death as it makes death appear less frightening. I think by Bristowe placing the phrase after 'Over the Top-' shows the fact many men turned to God, even if they were not religious, before going over the top in order to find reasurrance that death was moving onto somewhere better and God would be there for them.
ReplyDelete'Leave in 1917' by Lilian M. Anderson uses idyllic imagery, especially towards the last 3 stanzas. She uses words associated with Spring time and colours that represent lushness within England. This is very similar with 'Perhaps' by Vera Brittain who also uses colour and the seasons to represent feelings throughout the poem. However, both poems are written for different reasons, Perhaps is written for Vera Brittains fiancé who died in the war and 'Leave In 1917' is written about when a solider comes back from war. Even though the context is different for both, they use the idyllic imagery to create an image in the readers head to emphasise their feelings of how they feel and what they see.
ReplyDelete'Education' by Pauline Barrington presents a cyclical poem due to the line 'While you sew/Row after row.' The cycle of the poem is created by using this line at the end of the first stanza and then end of the last stanza to create this repetition of war and how women saw what war was like. This is similar with 'Perhaps' by Vera Britain as the use of the seasons throughout the poem also creates a cycle to the poem going from summer 'sun' to spring 'blossom', autumn 'harvest fields' and winter 'Christmas'. The context of this poem is much different to 'Education' as 'perhaps' shows the love and loss she has for her husband she lost and the grief she is going through as it keeps on going.
'The Lament of the Demobilised' by Vera Brittain presents the ignorance of people back at home who are not in the war, the poem presents a more angry side of war and how it is. However in Veras other poems 'Perhaps' and 'To my Brother' she shows a much softer and sensitive side to war and to the loved ones lost. This contrast shows that Vera Brittain had many different feelings towards war yet her main thought was one of being against war as she was a pacifist
'Over the top' by Sybli Bristowe and 'The Wind on the Downs' by Marian Allen both portray a strong sense of religion throughout both poems. In 'Over the Top' the quote 'to Kingdom come!' suggests that they are going over the top to fight but to a kingdom which shows they are going to die and go to heaven with God. The use of 'kingdoms' in the 'The Wind on the Downs' shows also that the soldiers rely on God to keep them strong as they have no other hope to turn to.
'Perhaps' by Vera Brittain and 'The Wind on the Downs' both share a similar sense of grief and use similar language and imagery, particularly that of nature - the "canals" and "summer woods". They are also similar in the sense of loss - "Although You cannot hear" "I hear you laughing as you used to do". However, 'Perhaps' is more about the woman narrating, and her hope that one day she can find joy in life again, and 'The Wind on the Downs' focuses more on the dead man, as the woman wonders if he will live on, perhaps in Heaven, and find new "adventure".
ReplyDeleteCannan's attitude towards war, is mixed in her poems, I think this is due to the fact that she had both experience on the home front and the Western Front. In 'Lamplight' her attitude is quite negative towards war, as she explains how it is not worth dying for war, 'And have no need of fame-'. Similarly in 'Rouen' her sympathy for the soldiers is clear, 'My heart goes out to Rouen. Rouen all the world away;' and her questioning the war is also clear, 'And the agony and splendour when they stood to save the King?' suggesting her negative outlook on war. However, in 'Since they have died' Cannan has a much more positive outlook on war, 'Since they have died to give us gentleness,' implying how she understands that war is necessary for them to carry on with their lives and to keep Britain safe. Perhaps this was encouraged by her time at her father's publishing business which published propaganda.
ReplyDeleteReligion is a common theme within many of the poems. In 'The Parson's Job' is about a grieving widow who turns away from God instead blaming him for her terrible loss. In contrast in 'Over the Top' in the first stanza it says 'say yer prayers' before they go over the top suggesting they, unlike the widow in 'The Parson's Job' turn to God in their time of need before they went over the top, which was not unusual for many people in the war. Another religious connotation within the poems are the connotations to heaven such as in 'Lamplight' where the poet describes death and whatever comes after as 'the road we never spoke of'. Similarly in 'The Wind on the Downs' the poet speaks f 'new kingdoms you explore', kingdoms giving connotations of some kind of afterlife.
ReplyDelete'Munition Wages' by Madeline Ida Bedford and 'Women at Munition Making' by Mary Gabrielle Collins are two poems that would work well to compare and contrast with the idea of women working. Although they are both talking about the same topic they have opposite opinions. Whilst Bedford finds it 'dim sweet', Collins describes it as being 'bruised against the law', showing a strong negative opinion on working at munition factories was quite rare within women as they generally found it liberating.
ReplyDelete'Munition Wages' by Bedford could also be used to compare against 'Education' by
ReplyDeleteBarrington on their attitudes towards war, Barrington has an attitude of negativity
towards war, while Bedford has a more positive outlook. In 'Education' this negativity
about war is shown in Barrington's idea that war is affecting the children, 'The children
play with soldiers made of tin,' she makes it quiet clear how she disagrees with the youth
being roped into war, and by using children to portray this makes war seem even more
horrendous because of the children's naivety. Barrington also compares war to an ongoing
disastrous event, 'War is slipping, dripping death on earth.' The use of the 'ing', a continuous verb suggests war is this continuous evil, causing havoc and death on earth.
Whereas in 'Munition Wages' the war is seen to represent new freedom found by women. Bedford explains all these new opportunities given to women, 'Five quid a week. A women, too, mind you,' implying how the war brought women freedom, a chance to earn more money and liberation. This attitude of living for the moment shows Bedford as thinking about
the benefits of war, rather than it’s horror. However the idea in 'Education' of war bringing
death to earth could also be compared to the underlying, more negative view of war in 'Munition Wages' Bedford realises that war may decide to end her life soon, 'We're all here today, mate, Tomorrow- perhaps dead,' Bedford understands the reality of war, but chooses to
look at the brighter side, as the rhythm and fast pace of this poem, make this reality seem a
lot less darker, than it actually is.
‘The Falling Leaves’ by Margaret Postgate Cole represents her feelings towards war by relating the soldiers to both snowflakes and leaves. These metaphors make the deaths of the soldiers more evident as they symbolise the sheer number of deaths that occurred on the battlefield. A similar technique is used in the poem ‘Afterwards’ where she uses the extended metaphor of soldiers as pit-props which highlights how the war turns them into useless beings and the idea that the world will never be the same after the war.
ReplyDelete‘Afterwards’ is also similar to ‘lament of the demobilised’ as they both share the same idea that the war is pointless. This is also shown in Lament when she talks about ‘throwing four years into the melting pot’ and in ‘Afterwards’ when she says how the soldiers become useless after the war. However Vera Britain is talking about how the soldiers don’t get the glory that they deserve after returning and ‘Afterwards’ refers to the soldiers being useless and merely objects to support the armies work.
‘Afterwards’ has a wider perspective about soldiers on the battlefield but there is still an intensely personal nature. This is similar to the general theme that runs through the whole anthology that ‘you were here, and now you are dead.’ However, this isn’t as personal as some poems such as ‘Perhaps’ which is a direct elegy for her personal loss.
Afterwards echoes the nostalgic tone that is also represented in poems such as Lamplight and Rouen, the strong yearning for what once was, life before war. Like Lamplight it seems to be addressing a certain person, dreaming and reminiscing on the things they had planned to do together before war seized them. Also both poems seem to view war as being futile, and only having caused disruption and pain. Afterwards uses the idea of 'pit props' the soldiers doing someone elses job and becoming dead inside and in Lamplight it says 'for you gave your life away and I think my heart was broken by war', highlighting how war chewed up and spat out what meant most to them. I think Afterwards is a very strong poem and I like how it shows the contrast between the natural world and all it's sweet memories and gifts and man-made war and it's destruction both physically and mentally.
ReplyDelete'Flanders Fields' by Elizabeth Daryush also mentions a lot about nature, similar to 'Leave in 1917'. However 'Flanders Fields' respents nature as being a constant memory of what happened during the war and how many people died. It says "carmined rose" in the first stanza which is a semantic field of war as crimson being the colour of blood and linking to the wounds and casualties during the war. Flanders Fields is the name of one of the WW1 battlefields and is a painful memory of the soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge contrast between the poems 'Unknown Warrior' and 'Perhaps' by Vera Brittain as Brittain wrote the poem in dedication to R.A.L her fiance dying, the poem talks about how life has changed now 'And autumn harvest fields a rich delight, Although You are not there'. As the poem is written in dedication it is very personal recognising the loss she is suffering. In contrast is 'Unknown Warrior' as this poem is literally about the Unknown Warrior buried in Westminster Abbey in recignition for all of those who were lost in the war and have not been found or have not got a name on their grave. Although Brittain is looking for recignition for the loss of her husband the voice in 'Unknown Warrior' is not looking for any recignition or any kind of reward for his sacrifice. For example 'May hang yet his laurels of rewnown'
ReplyDelete'The Veteran' by Margaret Postgate Cole uses a volte face at the end of the poem to emphasise the impact war had on youth. The title would imply that the soldier she is talking about is old and although it is still awful that he would of had to fight a war, the idea of him being old makes this not appear as bad. However the use of the volte face at the end, 'And you're how old? Nineteen, the third of may.' Changes the view of the poem. The young soldier who has experienced war and still nightmares about it emphasises the lost and wasted youth of that time. By Cole ending the poem after those lines, the reader is left with the view that it is wrong to allow a soldier so young to experience something as horrofic as war.
ReplyDeleteThe view that war is having a major impact on youth could also be compared to 'Education' by Barrington. In this poem she talks about the impact of war on children on the homefront, 'The children play with soldiers made of tin,' the use of the word 'children' creates a horrofic image of war, as it is wrong that children are getting involved with the idea of fighting and killing and you would hope that the innocent children would not be affected by this.
'For a Survivor of The Mesopotamian Campaign' by Elizabeth Daryush shows a negative look on war and shows how war has changed them and left them deserted and almost puts it like a definition, "A desert:-those too who." It gives the impression that war was wasted and was pointless, it did not really solve anything and left unsolved and empty, "War's wasted era is a desert shore." The line, "slashing all life's beauty limb from limb" is very vivid imagery and "beauty" is an obvious contrast to war and strange word to be associated with it.
ReplyDeleteIn Pauline Barringtons poem 'Education' (page 6) I think that there may be a hidden message and meaning within the seemingly repetitive nature of the poem. The first line of each stanza reads a distressing series of events that repeatedly happened to women on the home front. This is how I read the first lines of each stanza...
ReplyDelete'The rain is slipping, dripping down the street' - This sets the scene as depressing and leaves the reader expecting something dark.
'The tears are slipping, dripping one by one'- Makes you picture a women at home crying over someone close to her going to war, whether it be her husband, brother or even close friend.
'The blood is slipping, dripping drop by drop.'- provokes images of a war scene and this woman losing someone close to her.
'The ink is slipping, dripping from the pens.' - Letters getting written home by the authorities to inform this woman of the death.
'War is slipping, dripping death on earth.' -This line almost confirms the death and is maybe the woman thinking about how petty and pointless war is.
This poem send out a definite anti-war message. it paints a picture of a lonely housewife having nothing to do but sew and mope about their houses. This poem is in a direct contrast with Madeline Ida Bedford's, 'Munition Wages.' (on page 7) which depicts a woman clearly loving her new found job and sending out a message of life on the home front being great and highly beneficial to her!
Both 'The Fallen' by Diana Gurney and 'A Fight to the Finish' by S. Gertrude Ford are written in favour of those lives sacrificed in the war; they see through the jingoistic propaganda and endless patriotism and present their poems to argue in favour of 'the wounded, maimed and blind'.
ReplyDeleteThe poem, 'Nothing to Report', written by May Herschel-Clarke highlights the very non chalante and careless attitude the media and also many people at home had towards the thousands of lives sacrificed at war. it describes the life of many people as 'laughin' to give a happy and 'full of life' representation of the people who went into war. it say's 'one minute, he was laughin'... the next, he lay beside me grinnin'- dead'. i believe this shows the unpredictable nature of war and how not only the soldiers, but also the family and friends at home were deeply affected by it. I believe this poem has an extremely anti-war attitude and is similar to that of 'A Fight to the Finish' by S. Gertrude Ford. i suggest this because the use of the sentence 'War is good!yelled the jingo-kind: what said the wounded, the maimed and the blind?' shows that these poets saw beyond the jingoistic propaganda and endless patriotism of the media and arguably the army, and also that the voices of the wounded need to be heard. I believe that these two poems are similar in confronting the harsh and somewhat careless nature/attitude that the media had towards the men who went into war... Both poets highlight the fact that not everyone was mercyful, and how many were inconsiderate of how badly those really effected were infact effected.
Best Slot Machines for Players at the Next-Gen - DrmCAD
ReplyDeleteThe 군산 출장안마 next-generation graphics engine will bring classic reel slots 광양 출장샵 to 서산 출장샵 modern mobile devices. With 강릉 출장샵 the launch of the SEGA Master System 청주 출장샵 and