Anthem For Doomed Youth Poem Analysis

This elegy is ultimately written for all soldiers of war and sends the ironic message that the soilders who have fought against each other and could have killed each other are now all floating on the same coastline receiving equal treatment and being buried with their enemy. The theme of anonymity is extensively portrayed throughout this piece as Slessor constantly refers to ‘unknown’ soldiers or ‘someone’. Slessor uses personification and dehumanization to depict the loss of identity within each of the soldiers and the obscured effects of war to show the continuous movement forward of the world despite losses and victories. Personification is shown in the second stanza, 'Between the sob and clubbing of the gunfire '; the use of this technique ironically emphasises that the guns seem to mourn the loss more than humanity does. This leaves the audience feeling distraught and pity for the soldiers as it gives them a sense of the emotions linked to war. Personification of the rain in the fourth stanza, ‘The breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions’ indicates that the world will continue advancing, regardless of the scale of their sacrifices. Slessor also dehumanizes these sailors by the use of language such as ‘dead seamen’, to exemplify his statement about the number of losses that the enemy

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.

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.

Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men.

In the poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “The Bright Lights of Sarajevo” by Tony Harrison, both poems present the truths of war. However, both differ in terms of setting and contrast that help depicts the similarities between their theme. Disabled takes place within World War I as Owen vividly describes the subject’s amputation, but the poem is centered around the subject’s adjustment to civilian life after war. In The Bright Lights of Sarajevo although Harrison discusses the consequences of partaking in war in the town, he illustrates the way in which life goes on regardless the horrific impact. Through use of setting and contrast, both poets contribute to presenting the theme of the realities of war.

During violent conflict or war, it is possible for a Soldier’s ethical boundaries to change, cause a reversible shift to the soldier’s attitude and belief. Every violent experience has away of affecting the perspective of one’s mind. A Soldier's mental condition is affected by the actions within the war. Those mental condition are scars that soldiers themselves try to hide but still can be seen by others. The reversible shifts can be triggered by commitments, following orders, feeling safe around deadly weapons, and being devastated after the war.

All people are constantly changing based on their experiences, but there are few circumstances in life that can alter a person more than war whether it be physically, emotionally, or both. World War I was one of the bloodiest wars with over 31 million deaths, wounded, and missing people. Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, is a novel set in this bloodshed, and focuses around the changes brought by the war on one young German soldier. This text depicts the overwhelming effects and power war holds to weaken the human spirit and is able to scar the soldier not only physically but mentally. This is done through the authors ability to convey the unrelenting realism and agony of battle action. During his time in the war, Remarque's

How would you like it if you had to fit in? The poet Erin Hanson, who goes by E.H., wrote the poem “Welcome to Society”. The poem is summarized by the third and fourth lines, which state, “And please feel free to be yourself/ As long as it’s in the right way.” Hanson expresses the theme of social acceptance through his/her use of conflict, word choice, and idioms throughout the poem.

The First World War, named at its conclusion ‘the War to End All Wars’, is widely considered to be one of the most savage displays of physical violence of its time. The statistics for single battles such as the Battle of the Somme show that in one day alone, 15,000 British soldiers were killed, with one person dying every five seconds. The cruelty of this war has been a source of inspiration for many, with countless poets, playwrights and novelists attempting to capture and convey its brutality, two of the most successful being R.C. Sherriff and Sebastian Faulks. The former, writer of the play ‘Journey’s End’, draws on personal experiences in order to give the audience a snapshot of the war, whilst the latter writes entirely from research and

Wilfred Owen was one of the main English poets of World War 1, whose work was gigantically affected by Siegfried Sassoon and the occasions that he witnesses whilst battling as a fighter. 'The Sentry ' and 'Dulce et Decorum Est ' are both stunning and reasonable war lyrics that were utilized to uncover the detestations of war from the officers on the hatreds of trenches and gas fighting, they tested and unmistakable difference a distinct difference to general society impression of war, passed on by disseminator writers, for example, Rupert Brooke.

Firstly is the theme of Warfare and destruction of families caused by it. To start off with the theme of Warfare is common in many civil war literature. “Do not weep, maiden,

“Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle” is an example from the third line of first stanza. Owen constructs the rhythm “rifles’ rapid rattle” by using alliteration to allows us to get the sound, and the image of the strong sound of rifles’ fired. The onomatopoeia ‘rattle’ usually comes with the word ‘rapid’, to emphasise how fast it is, and also to express the violence of the rifle. Rhythm of the poem helps develop the feelings and the mood of sorrow and anger to the reader to convey the theme. The rifles express how evil and how reckless the war was for the soldiers to keep on shooting guns while the fellow members are passing away, suffering with the pain they got from the shot from the rifles from the enemy forces. This connects to the theme because they are not treated individually once they die, but treated only as one of the people died, which is forgotten. “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds” is from fourteenth line in second stanza. Owen ends the poem by giving you the image of weak lights coming through the blinds on twilight. It does not give you any violent, and rough image, but instead calm image of a new day. By using the word

The “cloud”—amorphous and obstructing—cuts into the scene, as well as the poem, with a sudden violence, in order to block the image of “Love’s moon”. The cloud itself cannot have definite dimensions, as it exists to only hide the moon, casting the speaker of the poem, his love and the cloud itself in a continuous darkness. It is in this darkness that the speaker of the poem finds his own perception and experiences clouded, indicating his blind submission to erotic love in lieu of a more illuminating, comprehensive “Love”.

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.