Analysis of selected War poems

Name:- Rinkal Dangar 

Roll No:- 18

Semester:- 2 (Batch 2022-24)

Enrollment number: - 4069206420220007

Paper No:- 110

Paper name: History of English Literature – From 1900 to 2000

Paper code:- 22403

Topic: - Analysis of selected War poems 

Submitted to:- Smt. SB Gardi Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Date of Submission:- 31/03/2023

Email Address: - dangarrinkal0609@gmail.com

Introduction:

Ivor Gurney and Siegfried Sassoon as War Poets

Ivor Gurney and Siegfried Sassoon were both war poets who wrote about their experiences in World War I.

Ivor Gurney was a British composer and poet who served in the war from 1915 to 1917, when he was wounded and sent back to England. His poems often focused on the soldiers' experiences in the trenches and the psychological toll of war. Some of his notable poems include "To His Love," "The Silent One," and "Severn Meadows."

Siegfried Sassoon was also a British poet and soldier who served in the war from 1914 to 1917. He became a vocal critic of the war and its leaders, and his poetry often reflected this disillusionment. Some of his notable poems include "The General," "Counter-Attack," and "Suicide in the Trenches." Sassoon's writing was influenced by his close friend and fellow war poet Wilfred Owen.

Both Gurney and Sassoon were deeply affected by their experiences in the war and used their poetry as a means of expressing their emotions and opinions. They both wrote vividly about the horrors of war and the impact it had on those who fought in it. Their poetry remains an important record of the experiences of soldiers in World War I and a reminder of the devastating consequences of conflict.

“The Hero”

“The Hero” by the English poet Sigfried Sassoon (1886-1967), is one of the many notable lyrics Sassoon wrote in response to World War I. Sassoon himself was a war hero, known for his unusual bravery, but eventually he turned against the conflict which he came to consider as pointless and badly managed. This poem reflects his disillusionment with the war.

The poem was first published in 1917 in Sassoon's collection "Counter-Attack and Other Poems." It reflects the disillusionment and bitterness felt by many soldiers who were sent to fight in the war, and the way in which they were often idealized and glorified by those who had never experienced the horrors of the battlefield.

The first stanza sets the scene by describing the soldier's death. He is killed by a shell, and the narrator describes the impact of the explosion in vivid detail. The second stanza describes the soldier's funeral, which is attended by mourners who see him as a hero. They believe that he died bravely and honorably, and they are proud of him.

However, in the third stanza, the tone shifts, and the narrator begins to question the idea of ​​heroism. He suggests that the soldier's death was not heroic at all, but rather a meaningless and pointless waste of life. He questions the value of the soldier's sacrifice, asking "What candles may be held to speed them all? / Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes / Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes."

In the fourth stanza, the narrator imagines the soldier's mother grieving for her son. He suggests that she will not see her son as a hero, but rather as a victim of war. The final stanza concludes the poem by suggesting that the true heroes are not those who die in battle, but rather those who survive and continue to fight against the injustices of war.

“ 'We mothers are so proud / Of our dead soldiers.' Then her face bowed.”: The mother speaks as if for all British soldiers: perhaps the consolation that she finds in doing so is in subsuming herself in the collective loss of all the mothers of the nation. At any rate, these words do seem more sentimental than authentic: their clichéd expression helps to repress, perhaps, the great grief of the women.

Again, it's a satire of the Glorified War that the motherland is proud of the Dead Soldiers for the Bravery shown by them, doesn't matter that they lost their lives for the meaningless War.

"The Hero" is a powerful poem that subverts the traditional idea of ​​heroism in war. Sassoon uses vivid imagery and stark language to convey the brutal reality of war, and to challenge the idea that soldiers who die in battle should be celebrated as heroes. Instead, he suggests that the true heroes are those who fight against war and its devastating consequences.

"The Target"

"The Target" is a poem by Ivor Gurney, a British poet and composer who served in World War I. The poem was written in 1917, during Gurney's time serving as a private in the Gloucestershire Regiment on the Western Front.

The poem is a meditation on the nature of warfare and the human cost of conflict. It begins by describing a distant hillside, where a group of soldiers are firing their rifles at a target. Gurney describes the crackling of the shots and the smoke rising from the guns, creating a sense of tension and violence.

As the poem progresses, however, Gurney shifts his focus to the human cost of the soldiers' actions. He writes of the "souls" of the men who are firing, and the way that their lives are being consumed by the violence of the war. He also speaks of the "unseen dead," the soldiers who have already been killed in battle and who are now haunting the landscape.

The poem ends with a haunting image of a single bullet that has missed the target and struck a tree. Gurney suggests that this stray bullet represents the randomness of war and the way that innocent lives can be caught up in its violence. He writes, "The tree stands there, and weeps, and weeps, and weeps."

Overall, "The Target" is a powerful anti-war poem that highlights the human cost of conflict. Gurney's vivid descriptions of the soldiers firing at the target are juxtaposed with his somber reflections on the toll that the war is taking on the men and the landscape. The poem is a poignant reminder of the need for peace and understanding in times of conflict.

"All's a tangle. Here's my job.

A man might rave, or shout, or sob;

And God He takes no sort of heed.

This is a bloody mess indeed".

First person narrator – an ordinary soldier explaining why he killed a German and how he now feels about it

"This is a bloody mess indeed."

The line is significant here that at the end Soldier is able to understand the true meaning of War that war is nothing but the "Bloody Mess"

Yet God keeps still, and does not say/A word of guidance any way.”

The idea of ​​god doing everything better and looking at everything is being criticized here as if he is looking at everything then why don't he do anything or at least speak anything?

Structure of the Poems 

"Target" is a three-stanza poem with irregular meter and rhyme scheme. The first stanza describes the scene of a soldier preparing to fire his rifle at a distant target. The second stanza shifts to the soldier's thoughts and emotions as he takes aim, including his fear and the brutal nature of his task. The final stanza concludes with the soldier firing his rifle and the target falling, but the poem's final lines suggest a sense of futility and emptiness.

The structure of "Target" reinforces the idea of ​​fragmentation and dislocation that characterized much of the poetry of the First World War. The irregular meter and rhyme scheme mirror the chaos and unpredictability of the battlefield, while the fragmented narrative structure mirrors the shattered lives and minds of soldiers who were often unable to make sense of their experiences.

"The Hero," on the other hand, is a sonnet with a traditional meter and rhyme scheme. The poem describes a soldier who dies in battle and is praised as a hero for his sacrifice. However, the final lines of the poem reveal that the soldier was actually terrified and did not want to die. The sonnet form, with its strict rhyme scheme and meter, contributes to the ironic contrast between the soldier's true feelings and the heroic narrative that is imposed upon him.

Conclusion: That is how in an Ordinary language of soldiers, Poets have been trying to show us the very ugly face of war rather than glorifying the deaths and bravery of Soldiers using it for the "Mother land" which is not itself.

However, "Target" and "The Hero" use their unique styles to convey the complex emotions and experiences of soldiers during World War I, and to challenge the traditional narratives of heroism and glory that were often used to justify the conflict.