Andrew Renard's Etched In Memory

The poems Remains, by Simon Armitage and War Photographer, by Carol Anne Duffy both discuss the topic of war. In both poems, you can see how war affects people and how memories of what they have seen haunt them forever. In War Photographer, attempts are made to put order to the chaos created by war, unlike Remains, which shows how chaos is created.

While reading Layli Long Soldier’s Whereas, I was pleasantly surprised with how I liked the literature. As I am not a fan of poetry I wasn't expecting to like this particular piece, but I found that many, if not most, of the poems were fascinatingly executed. Another theme I found that was incorporated into many pieces was land and territory. One of the first poems that caught my attention was “Three”. In this poem Long Soldier structures her poem so that it creates a box shape which ironically is what the poem is about. She writes, “This is how you see me the space in which to place me” (pg. 8). This poem creates, literal, imagery of land and territory. We can also see how Long Soldier feels as though people place her in a box whether it be physical, reservations, or metaphorical, Indigenous stereotypes.

War is an incredibly ambiguous phenomenon. In today’s world it feels easy to forget anything but life in relative peace. World War II shook the globe. Now, it has has dwindled to mere ripples in between pages of history textbooks and behind the screens of blockbuster films. In Lee Sandlin’s spectacular essay, “Losing the War,” he explains that in the context of World War II, the “amnesia effect” of time has lead to a bizarre situation; “the next generation starts to wonder whether the whole thing [war] ever actually happened,” (361). All that seems to be remembered is a reverie; a spectacle of valiance and bravery. The older generation —the ones who were there—simply became the collateral damage. The war, in all its infamy, can never be

Both Ted Hughes and Wilfred Owen present war in their poems “Bayonet Charge” and “Exposure”, respectively, as terrifying experiences, repeatedly mentioning the honest pointlessness of the entire ordeal to enhance the futility of the soldiers' deaths. Hughes’ “Bayonet Charge” focuses on one person's emotional struggle with their actions, displaying the disorientating and dehumanising qualities of war. Owen’s “Exposure”, on the other hand, depicts the impacts of war on the protagonists' nation, displaying the monotonous and unending futility of the situation by depicting the fate of soldiers who perished from hypothermia, exposed to the horrific conditions of open trench warfare before dawn.

Donald Bruce Dawe’s literature makes society cognisant on the painful realities that are of the raw and dehumanising truth that plague this world. Donald Bruce Dawe, an Australian poet. His literature is predicated unto the dehumanising and defamatory experiences that he, the inditer himself had experienced through his time in the army, the RAAF. Though his literature, he conveys an opinionated point-of-view, urging the audience to optically discern the exploited and flawed practices of the regime. It is the truth obnubilated from society by propaganda and word of mouth, Dawe pushes the theme time and time again that authenticity is a painful experience, and that war is erroneous, wasteful, dehumanising. Understanding Dawe’s conceptions avails

How can different perceptions about one topic be expressed in poetry? The main theme that the two sets of poems convey is war, but it’s expressed in different point of views through the use of diction that builds tone. The tones of these poems play a big role in conveying the differences between the different eras that these poems are written in, and shows how societies have changed from the Victorian era till the time of World War I.

Both Dulce et Decorum Est and Mametz Wood present the incompetent results of war. Dulce et Decorum Est indicates the horrible facts and deaths in war. Moreover, Mametz Wood highlights how precious life is and how easily it can be lost as a result of battle.

“Nineteen”, by Elizabeth Alexander uses language and tone to form a multi-sensory poem about remembering her youth and desire to connect to her past Vietnam vet lover. These aspects of language and tone are embedded in the outer form of the poem, as the author forms an imaginative recreation of her young adult life, which directly impacts the reader to allow for an enjoyable simple read. The elements of language and tone formation ensure the translation of Alexander’s emotions or feelings of her youth for the audience to relate and understand.

The term “remember” runs, like a refrain throughout the sonnet. However, its power seems to decrease through the poem, rather as if the voice and memory of the speaker is fading from life. The word “remember” is repeated six times within the poem, which expresses the desire of a speaker whose hope is that her lover, will keep her memory alive beyond death. The repeated use of “remember” and “remember me” indicate the strength of the speaker’s desire to not be forgotten, although this forceful plea is relaxed at the end of the poem when the speaker acknowledges that the happiness of her beloved is ultimately the most important thing. This is the general message of the poem, the happiness of others are ultimately more important than keeping the memory of a loved one alive as it will inevitably pain you too much to do. While most of the poem is spent trying to ensure that she will be remembered after she dies, the speaker realizes that keeping her memory alive must not occur at the price of another’s happiness. She does not want her beloved to be sad that she is gone, but wants him instead to understand that the afterlife and a physical existence are two separate realms, and, moreover, to rejoice in the memories of the good times they have spent together. Remember’ gives the griever permeation to move on. This may be because “Remember”, was written by the person that would soon die, unlike “Funeral Blues” which is entirely negative towards death not only forbidding themselves from moving on but also forbidding the world from moving on after the tragic passing of the loved one. This may be one of the many different attitudes the two poems have towards

When faced with war soldiers change, for better or for worse. Modern culture celebrates the glory of patriotic sacrifice. However, this celebration often leaves out the gritty details and trauma of violence behind war and the way it affects people. Homer’s The Odyssey and William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives clearly discuss these details. Both debate the long-awaited return of warriors that went off to fight a war and the way the experience changes the protagonists. A warrior’s homecoming is typically thought to be full of loving comfort from family and friends, exemplified in images in popular culture. However, there is in fact a tragedy behind the whole ordeal, caused by the lack of effective communication by the homecoming warriors.

Using distinctively visual, sensory language and dramatic devices in texts allows the reader and audience to view as well as participate and relate to different emotions. In the fictional play “Shoe Horn Sonata” written by John Misto, 1995, Misto sets the scene by using dramatic devices to address the extremely confronting circumstances that the protagonists, Sheila and Bridie experience. Similarly, in the poem “Beach Burial” by Kenneth Slessor, 1944, Slessor too uses extremely strong visual language on the subject of war to overcome the gruesome realities of the subject matter.

Composers have the ability to influence how we the audience views and responds to characters and issues. Through viewing and analysing ‘The Shoe Horn Sonata’ by John Misto and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ directed by Steven Spielberg, it is obvious that composers have the ability to impact and influence our views on characters and issues that occur.

Before World War I, war was glorified and many a young boy hoped of becoming a soldier. After World War I, war had been given a new darkness of scarring memories from veterans of the debacle. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, and In the Field, by Tim O’Brien, help shed the light on this shade that looms over war now. In All Quiet on the Western Front and In the Field, common themes of lost generation and horrors of war are present in a bold fashion.

Alan Seeger’s poem, I Have a Rendezvous with Death is a truly gripping narrative about himself as a soldier who is facing the possibility of his death. I found this story particularly engaging due to the writing style and unique personification of death. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the story is that Seeger intends for this to be a personal account.

In the poems “A Psalms of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson, “Beat! Beat! Drums!” by Walt Whitman the themes, mood, structure and literary devices has similarities and differences. In Longfellow’s poem “A Psalms of Life” its theme focuses on how everyone should live a life for today. The theme is expressed in his poem as Longfellow states, “Lives of great men all reminds us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of times”. As in Emily Dickinson poem, the theme is based on the cycle of life the inevitability of death. The poem “Beat! Beat! Drum!” theme is the ravages of war.