1914 by Wilfred Owen, In Flanders Fields by John McCrae - Essay Example

? Comparing and contrasting four poems The First World War was a universal wore centered in Europe that started in 1924 and lasted until 1918. It engaged all the world’s great powers, which were consolidated in two opposing pacts: the Allies and the Central Powers. For the first, a considerable number of vital English poets were soldiers, chronicling about their experience of war. A number of them were killed in the battlefield, of noteworthy being Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen and Edward Thomas, amid others. However, most of the poems by English poets were published in newspapers and then combined into an omnibus. Unrivaled for its variety and strength, the poetry of the First World War persists to have a powerful impact on readers. The three poems that will be discussed in this paper reflect the diverse experience of those who lived through the war, integrating the words of poets, soldiers and civilians affected by the war. These four poems depict the emotions of those at war, and the unknown lyrics of soldiers’ songs. Furthermore, the poems provide a blend of voices that is both unique and tremendously moving. The poetry that was coming out of the First World War revealed, for the first time in the history of ever, the actual horror of war. The consequence is an extraordinary documentation of passionate emotions and atrocious experiences, written by men and women from extensively different settings, of distinct and lasting significance. Moina Michael influenced by the May 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields” composed by Canadian doctor and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, published her own poem in Novemember 1918, We Shall Keep the Faith. In her emotional poem Moina Michael swears to at all time don a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance for those who were killed in the war. By providing material variety to an image in a poem, she offered the world a means of marking and concealing the inexplicable devastation of humankind set in motion in Europe in 1914. Such an easy doing needed a sophisticated transformation. On the other hand, the poppy has long been the symbol of absent-mindedness. Put another way, the poppy in the hand, as one stares towards the world of dreams. Here, the poppy depicts its contradiction, which is a remembrance that is sub-presumed into the iconography of politeness, and provided with the added baggage of watchfulness, responsibility, and unstipulated trust. Monia’s poem somehow ignores, as do the memorials erected all over the state, is the time of evolution between life and death. The poppy remodelled by Monia is the gesture of the realm into which a generation fell and through which we persist to stumble on as if heaved; we are the future that the demised speaks to. Presently the poppies flutter in the fields of Iraq. The poppy, with its embedded promise of oblivion, has become the appropriate preserve of the despicable. The Monia’s poem also falls short to tell us what that was, however, it serves well adequately to mark the appalling void at its heart. “1914” is Wilfred Owen’s first poem about the First World War. It has two stanzas with 8 and 6 lines, respectively. These 8 lines and 6 divide the otherwise frequent iambic meter. The rhymes too are traditional: no restrained pararhymes are present. On the other hand, the most significant thing is how virtually its intent adheres to received perception of the war at that moment, as exemplified by the Rupert Brooke’s poem “The Soldier.” The comparison between the diction on the lines 1-8 and lines 9-14 is very spotlighted. The octet contains “whirled”, “rend”, and “down-hurled”, words which depict the devastating force. On the other hand, words, such as like “famine” and “rots” are indicative of destruction’s impacts. Thus, “wails” depicts human reaction, all the consequences of that terrifying strained word “tornado”. All these words are also indicative of a more apt year later during Owen’s experiences in the trenches. How distinct when we come to the sestet (line 9-14) which sums up the metaphor of seasonal transformation. Spring flourishes, summer rages, harvest is rich with all increase until spring comes. War destructs but tranquility follows and regenerates. Uncertainly a price has to be paid, as Owen recognizes in his last line and the reference to blood for seed. Conversely, if Rupert could rarely have written Owen’s octet (line 1-8); he might have thought something beside the lines 9-14. In “The Soldier”, Brooke’s thoughts seem analogous to those of Owen’s. Nevertheless, the word “but” starting line 13 proposes a turning away from the spirit of hopeful self-sacrifice, and an explanation of “blood for seed” as a forethought of a very distinct, and as yet defunct attitude towards the war. Rupert Brooke’s poem “The Soldier” is regarded to be the British nationalist poem, composed in 1914. It venerates the heroism of the English troops who fought in the First World War. This poem is highlighting that conflict is not virtually began for the basis that your government orders you. Instead, there is a bigger image to take into account. This poem is often read at the memorial services of the military. In First World War I, the military forces were not virtually capable to bring back the corpses of their dead companions. For instance, in France, demised soldiers were interred in the national cemetery, that is, if their remains were found. Nevertheless, there is an immense field committed to the unidentified soldiers. In lines 1-3, the ground that the narrator is killed is made better, since he has demised there. It hides the spirit of a great man who died for his country. On the other hand, line 5-8, Britain was his birth place of birthplace and it formed what type of an individual he became. It inspired his attitude and feelings. Britain taught the narrator about adoration, allegiance, and respect. The narrator’s demise will everlastingly be blest by England. Thus, his the persona’s soul will be immortal, since he fought for Britain. Conversely, lines 9-10, the persona’s demise is vindicated, since he died for Britain. Thereby his evil actions do not matter any longer, because he did what was justifiable; he fought tooth and claw for his nation. Next, the narrator’s demise permits him to just recall the good things about Britain. It also permits for somebody else to come and occupy his position. Rupert Brooke’s poem is a conventional sonnet in which he articulates his love for Britain and how he thinks it is justifiable to fight and die for his country. Nevertheless, the poet never explored what war was like really, as he died in 1915, before he apparently got to fight in the combat. Thereby his poem is very idealistic and has a very conventional opinion. Unlike the Owen’s poem, this one is composed in iambic pentameter and has a varying line rhyme he utilizes images and euphemism. Brooke’s poem would influence a young person’s to enlist and would bring sympathy to the relatives of the victims of war. In “The Soldier”, the poet has utilized repetition of the word England in a very nationalistic trend. Brooke also utilizes personification to portray England as though it was a person. On the other hand, the plot of the poem strengthens its purpose since it handles the issue of death and love. These two subjects are powerful things that stir up emotions in people. It assists to create a mental picture of a man who is very courageous and would anything for his country. The narrator in the poem fortifies the meaning sine he honestly believes in his beloved country. The images in the poems are highly robust and convincing. For instance, in the sixth line evokes the images of a beautiful woman relishing and stroking a man who stands beside her. This line produces a feeling of peace and a unity with nature. The poem “Rain,” by Edward Thomas, depends extremely on imagery to set the scene as well as the tone for the poem. The poem’s strong point is wherever symbolism is being utilized to express the narrator’s moos rather than expository dialect. The central symbol in the poem is rain. Rain is applicable to all of the sense and the poet utilizes of all the senses to reveal the persona’s experience. The mental picture of the rain has tentatively become very chestnut, however, it is one of the best symbols for stirring up emotions of peace and distress. Through these metaphors I suppose the experience being delved into through the poem is that of a soldier combat expecting his demise. In the starting lines of the poem we are ushered to the metaphor of rain, which serve as the context for the whole poem. Even if the introductory line has just three idioms the whole mood of the poem is covered here. The repetition of the word rain produces the mental picture of rain that is surrounding the persona on all sides. The mental picture produced by this repetition is a symbol of unavoidable and predictable range. In other circumstances, the persona in the poem somewhat feels as if his demise is inevitable and predictable. The symbol of the rain is thus far utilized to expand the extent of the setting and also to stress the persona’s feeling of solitude. Thomas has utilizes very powerful images of rain falling on a hut to illustrate to us where the speaker is. Thomas creates a person with whom he can identify with and utilizes this persona to denote the likely situations and feelings that he may encounter in any future combat like situations. In “Rain”, the poet’s diction arrangement, and punctuation all depict deep, appalling symbols, which in effect show the poem's central theme of war and death. The diction also plays a critical function in reaffirming the poem's central theme. This is seen in the introductory lines of the poem. The word rain is repeated three times in first lines, previously alone, then with foregoing adjectives “midnight” and “wild”. Evidently, these words express Thomas’ setting and depict his solitude. When he uses the word solitude in the second line, this further stresses his lonelinesses. In lines 4-5 Thomas continues to utilize the sense of hearing, but then shifts into the sensitive touch. The fourth line utilizes the symbol of the rain in allusion to sound so as to examine the experience of death. Here the poet is illustrating the experience as one without resonance. The persona ceases to hear the rain and the rain ceases to hear him. Whilst rain denotes water that is utilized for ablution, this is not the purpose of these lines. The lines rather appear to allude to the experience of baptism. Throughout the poem and particularly the use of metaphor of rain we are offered a glance at the experience of a soldier at war. Albeit the peanut does not apparently assert that the person is a soldier. Without the rain metaphor the meaning of this poem would have been contrived. Put another way, the poem would appear as if it’s a collection of expository emotions. References Hibberd. D. (2008). The Winter of the World: Poems of the Great War. Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press. Read More