Political And Social Alienation In 'Coda' By Basil Bunting

Social conscience and seclusion became synonymous with each other during the Modern Era, for the purpose of communicating the growing concept of a need for change in the world. thrawting the group mentality and proliferating alienation seemed the only way to do so. As seen in Basil Bunting’s beliefs, the impacts the Modern Era had on Bunting personally are manifested through the political, economical and social isolation during World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II respectively; and are indicated through the subject of his poem’s “Coda,” “What the Chairman Told Tom,” and “Nothing” respectfully. The global destruction of the World Wars and its aftermath caused Basil Bunting to feel alienated from the world, resulting in his poems to reflect the ideologies of the Modern Era.
The arrest Bunting had been

Bunting had been, “arrested as a conscientious objector, and sentenced to imprisonment at Wormwood Scrubs and Winchester prisons” (Basic Bunting - A Basic Chronology), because he claimed the British Military used battle tactics to purposely extend the duration of the war. Bunting’s poem “Coda” reflects his claim, as it was, “overwhelmingly critical of political and military leaders’ strategy and tactics,” (2,221 Forgotten Poets of the First World War). For example, in the fifth to sixth line of the second stanza, the speaker says, “what horn sunk, what crown adrift,” indicating that the government is not with its citizens currently. Additionally, in the second and third lines of the third stanza, the speaker makes reference to, “kings who sup while day fails,” declaring that the government lazes around when the government knows