The Student Room Group

WWI A2 exam - poetry, prose and quotes



Well, hopefully this will be good - I'll write down quotes from poems etc, and then everyone (yes, that means participation! :wink:) can add quotes, etc. etc. in a similar vein to my Blake thread. Sound good? :smile:

Pre-WWI literature

The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

"Honour the Charge they made!" "While horse and hero fell" - patriotic, presents war positively.

"Someone had blunder'd" - blames Generals - interesting as it is before WWI, about the Boer war. So perhaps realistic in this sense?

Vitai Lampada, by Sir Henry Newbolt

Compare war to a game, "But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks, 'play up! play up! and play the game!'"

Realistic, "The sand of the desert is sodden red/Red with the wreck of a square that broke/The gatling's jammed and the colonel dead/And the regiment blind with dust and smoke". Despite this, see above point; the euphemism of war as a game enters here, comparing it to cricket - idealised.

Henry V, by William Shakespeare.

Ok, so at first glance it seems increbily stupid. But, IIRC, this did come up in an exam paper once, so hey....

Idealises war

Theme of comradeship, "We band of brothers" - this can also be seen in some WWI poetry such as Owen's "Greater Love" and "In Memorium" by E. A. Mackintosh.



Early War literature (1914-1915)

Julien Grenfell is a good example; "we are all awfully well, except those who have stopped something", he wrote in a letter. "Stopped something" was slang for being shot!

Jessie Pope (a.k.a Owen's arch-nemesis! :evil: :wink:) is another good one - incredibly pro-war.

"Who's for the trench - are you, my laddie? Who'll follow the French - will you, my laddie?" (The Call, Pope)

And Rupert Brooke's famous "The soldier" is also in this period, and rather idealised; "some corner of a foreign field that is forever England"



Later literature (1916-1918)

The poets that everyone knows, and I won't go into detail on - Sassoon and Owen. Glory of Women, Dulce et Decorum Est, "They", The General, Disabled, Greater Love and Survivors are all good poems by these two.

"In Flander's fields" by John McCrae, while written in 1915, is still more realistic than its contemporaries, "We are the Dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow" - it's more in line (in themes etc.) with the later war poetry, but feel free to disagree with me :biggrin:

Isaac Rosenberg - "Returning, we hear the larks" - "but hark! joy - joy - strange joy" "Death could drop from the dark as easily as song, but only song fell"



Post-WWI literature
Yes, there's more! :p:

Blackadder Goes Forth was used in an exam paper, and is good to quote, e.g. General Melchett (or General Insanity Melchett, as Blackadder calls him): "Anyone can see he's as sane as I am! Baaaaah!"

A quick google will bring up the script, and pretty much throughout there are links to later war poetry - the insanity of the generals, greater love, etc.

Journey's End is a very good play, with references to war as a game, with Raleigh's "rugger", love between officers and men when Osborne & Raleigh die, and realism through the deaths, Stanhope's alcohol problem, etc. Like Blackadder, open it at almost any page and you'll find a good quote to use.

Oh What a Lovelly War. Another play, this is much more humorous than JE, but still as hard-hitting and good to use, "Ye Gods! What's that?' 'Oh, it's a jerry, sir' 'what?' 'It's a leg, sir' 'well, get rid of it man. You can't have an obstruction sticking out of the parapet like that!' 'Hartcastle, remove the offending limb' 'Well, we can't do that sir; it's holding up the parapet!"

Recent books like Birdsong, Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy ("shotvarfet!"), Strange Meeting, etc. can all be used as well.



Come on people, let's have some more input here! :wink: :biggrin:

-Saruman

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
I'll add some more later, as i've got loads of resources i can share, but this is what i have so far :smile::

Glory of Women- Siegfried Sassoon 1917.
Criticises those at home, particularly the women.
•“You love us when we’re heroes, home on leave…”
•“Trampling the terrible corpses, blind with blood”
•“O German mother…while you are knitting socks to send your son His face is trodden deeper in the mud.”

War Girls- Jessie Pope 1916
Very jingoistic, praises the role of women during war time whilst the men were fighting.
•“No longer caged and penned up, they’re going to keep their end up ‘Til the khaki soldier boys come marching back.
•“Beneath each uniform, beats a heart that’s soft and warm”

A Dead Boche Robert Graves 1916
Wirtten from an anti war perspective, graphic descriptions show the true horror of war.
•“’War’s hell’”
•“Sat a dead Boche, he scowled and stunk”
•“Big-bellied, spectacled, crop haired, Dribbling black blood from nose and beard”
Reply 2
Good thread! :smile:

Sassoon - Suicide in the trenches

Written in a simple rhyming scheme (AABBCC etc) which suggests innocence (or the loss of) as it reminds us of a nursury rhyme.

Very anti war - "You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by,"

Portrays the loss of youth and innocence gradually through each verse, which is a major typicality of anti-war poetry. - "I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy," at the beginning becomes "In winter trenches, cowed and glum"

Reply 3
Here's some more: :smile:

Diasbled- Wilfred Owen 1917
Shows a strong anti-war view, criticises those at home who cannt see past the 'glory' of war. Poem shows a young boy who has been disabled by the war.
•“Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer a goal”
•“The women’s eyes passed from him to the strong men that were whole”
•“Why don’t they come?”

Dulce et Decorum Est- Wilfred Owen 1917
Again anti-war, satirises the view that war is a glorious thing, and that it is an honour to die for ones country.
•“Bent double, like beggars under sack, knock kneed and coughing like hags.”
•“As under a green sea, I saw him drowning... gargling from the froth corrupted lungs”
•“The old lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori”

The Voulnteer- Herbert Asquith 1912
This poem suggests that war is a glorious thing, and that it helps many peopel to achieve their life ambitions.
•“Here lies a clerk who half his life had spent Toiling at ledgers in a city grey.”
•“And now waiting dreams are satisfied…his lance is broken but he lies content…”

Base Details- Siegfried Sassoon
This poem criticises those in charge of the war.
•“if I were fierce and bald and short of breath…speed glum heroes up the line to death.
•“I’d toddle safely home and die- in bed

The Send Off- Wilfred Owen 1917
This poem has a melancholic tone, which has a sinister effect as the poem focuses on the death and destruction caused by war.
•“lined the train with faced grimly gay”
•"Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray, as mens are, dead.”
•“like wrongs hushed up they went”
•“A few, too few for drums and yells may creep back, silent… up half known roads.”

For the Fallen- Laurence Binyon 1914
This poem is anti war, which is unusual, although not unique for the time it was written. Unlike other anti war poems however, it shies away from the realitiy of war.
•“England mourns for her dead across the sea.”
•“They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted. They fell with their faces to the foe.”
•"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them.”
Reply 4
Siegfried Sassoon:


Glory of women
"You love us when we're heroes, home on leave
or wounded in a mentionable place"
- here Sassoon associates himself and the reader with the soldeirs through the 1st person plural objective pronoun, "us". The women are shown as materialistic, only loving soldiers when they are "wounded in a mentionable place" - a good counterpart to Owen's "Disabled" - "Tonight he notices how the women's eyes/Pass from him to the strong men that are whole."
"You make us shells" - this contrasts the English women to the German "mother stiing by the fire" - even the nouns used have connotations, since "mother"s are maternal, but "women" does not connote that. Also, the line could be meant metaphorically, since "you make us shells" fits with "you worship deocrations" etc. - the soldiers are simply "shells" - people do not care about their feelings, only that they were wounded (neatly, not missing a leg like Owen's "Disabled") in Ypres etc., and so can boast that their husband fought in the war, "Yes, I aquired this arm wound in Ypres. Damned Boche shot me - ruined me best mess jecket as well" - this kind of idealised view, "of leave, and pay arrears ... and hints for young recruits" (Disabled again).
You can't believe that British troops 'retire'
When hell's last horror breaks them"
- again, this supports the idea that the women see the men as shells rather than actual, feeling human beings.
"While you are knitting socks to send to your son
His face is tridden deeper into the mud"
- this refers to the German mother, contrasting her kindness to the almost brutal British woman, who makes shells, not socks, not caring for their men at all, unlike the German mother.

Survivors
"No doubt they'll soon get better" - this poem exemplifies the commonly held view that shell-shock didn't exist.
"Of course they're 'longing to go out again'" - :ditto:, yet the irony is that the soldiers were not.
"Children with eyes that hate you, broken and mad" - this line of reality is a stark contrast to the rest of the poem, and provides a sharp stab of reality in comparison to the idealised views before.

Does it matter?
Total irony overload here!

"Does it matter? Losing your legs?
For people will always be kind"
- incredibly ironic, since in reality there was little work for veterans after the war, and wounded soldiers on leave were avoided (Disabled - also, anyone who's read/seen Regeneration will know what I mean, when Prior goes out looking for girls and later describes to Rivers why he didn't wear his hospital armband).
"Does it matter? Losing your sight
For there's such splendid work for the blind"
- again, the irony is that, in reality, this was not the case.
"Do they matter? Those dreams from the pit" - this line contrasts with the jovial, ironic lines earlier in the poem, again providing a flash of insight into the suffering of the veterans.

By the way, did everyone like my poster at the top (first post)? :biggrin: :wink:

-Saruman
Reply 5
lol, yup, great poster! sent it to my mates :biggrin:

ok, I've actaul lost my notes :redface: kinda cacking myself a bit now!! but on the plus side, I've just analysed a poem epecially for you guys! :biggrin:

The Fallen Subaltern- Herbert Asquith:

'starshells float’ --> fate, written in the stars --> natural, not monstorous. gentle & unthreatening

‘our fallen friend’ ‘waiting legions’ --> comeradery even in death, still loyal to war (listening to outcomes)


‘wound in the flag of England’ --> the fates of the men and the country are intertwined/ they are one entity/ dying for country


‘the guns will flash and thunder o’er the grave’ --> glory and importance (Converse to WO spring offensive ‘no alarms of bugles, no high flags&#8217:wink:



‘What other’ --> naturally daaarling! War is a natural process


‘sun-god’ --> shows classical private education, god --> immortality, the service the men have done has given them this (reflected in ‘waiting legions&#8217:wink:, sunset --> death of soldier, again natural

‘and leaves behind twilight in the world’ --> have made a difference


Also a good example of providing for future generations in the 4th stanza


Measured uniformed rhyme scheme. All natural processes, v balanced, trad poetry (old values) etc etc, just use usuall waffle about how balanced rhyme schemes are significant

It's a pretty good poem, I'm gonna use it as my main pro-war one I think cos it's quite easy to remember and contains a fair few themes, sorry it's not a particulary profound analysis!
Reply 6
This is an excellent thread keep up the good work!
To add to the last post:

Loss of Youth
"I knew a simple soldier boy/ Who grinned at life with empty joy" Sassoon - suicide in the trenches

Comradeship
"The boys gave us kind welcome" Ivor Gurney - first time in, shows the unexpected friendly atmosphere in the trenches outside of war.

Animals
"limped on, blood-shod. All went lame..." Dulce et Decorum - comparison of soldiers to horses.

Madness
"Wherefore rock they, purgatorial shadows, Drooping tongues from jaws that slob their relish" Mental cases - W.O.

Patriotism in the war
"Patriotism, in the trenches, was too remote a sentiment, and at once rejected as only fit for civilians, or prisoners" Robert graves' autobiography - Goodbye to all that

Has anyone got any notes on the female poets, my notes seem lacking in that area ???
Reply 7
Great idea for a thread (I repped you :biggrin:)

Useful Birdsong Quotations

‘He had thought himself immune to death; he thought he had hardened himself against it…When there was a battle or a raid, they expected to die,’

‘So much muscle and blood in the earth’

‘None of these men would admit that what they saw and what they did were beyond the boundaries of human behaviour.’

‘ He found it difficult to think of words of encouragement or inspiration when he himself did not believe there was a purpose to the war or an end to it in sight.’

‘This eruption of natural fear brought home how unnatural was the existence they were leading; they did not wish to be reminded of normality.’

“No one in England knows what this is like. If they could see the way these men live they would not believe their eyes. This is not a war, this is an exploration of how far men can be degraded” - Stephen Wraysford

‘He moved towards the welcome of oblivion, he heard a voice, not human…its tone was mocking…It offered him, instead of the peace he longed for, the possibility of return…he could go back to his body and to the brutal perversion of life that was lived in the turned soil and torn flesh of war…unconquerable existence.’

‘Horrocks pulled the silver cross from his chest and hurled it from him…Jack knew what had died in him.’

“You are going to fight and you are going to win. You are going to inflict such a defeat on the enemy that he will never recover.” -Colonel Barclay
Reply 8
crapulous
Has anyone got any notes on the female poets, my notes seem lacking in that area ???


If I remember correctly, female poets during WWI were far and few between. The main ones were Jessie Pope and Vera Britten.

Jessie Pope

Incredibly pro-war :p:

Wrote three anthologies of pro-war poems including "The call" and "Who's for the game?"

She was despised by many soliders, especially Owen - he originally dedicated "Dulce et decorum est" to her, "If you too could pace behind..."

Her poems emphasise war as fun, a comradely adventure. For example, in "Who's for the game?", "the red crashing game of a fight" (compares war to a game), "Who'll toe the line for the signal to "GO!"" (again, sport-like).

It can be seen at one point as perhaps slightly realistic, "who knows it won't be a picnic", but the next line "-not much, yet eagerly shoulders a gun? Who would much rather come back with a crutch (that idea of a small wound again shown ironically in GLory of Women by Sassoon!) than lie low and be out of the fun?"

Very inspiring, "Your country is up to her neck in a fight/And she's looking and calling for you" - the personification and pronouns make the reader feel it is their duty to help Britannia in this war.

"When that procession comes/Baners and rolling drums/Who'll stand and bite his thumbs" - shaming those who do not go to fight. Contrast to "a few, too few for drums and yells" (The send-off, Owen)



Vera Britten

While not a poet, Britten's diaries are still important.

She served as a VAD (voluntary nurse), and wrote diaries

Her brother and fiance were killed in the war, and the tone of her diaries shows the brutal realism in contrast to other female writers.


THere were other female writers, but those are the main two I can think of :smile:

-Saruman
Reply 9
http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/8479/warlit9fw.jpg

Theres a link to a page from my notes that I uploaded about Helen Hamilton and a copy of the poem "Jingo Woman" with some brief analysis. I couldn't be arsed typing it, sorry :p:

But she was basically the opposite of Jessie Pope.
Saruman
If I remember correctly, female poets during WWI were far and few between. The main ones were Jessie Pope and Vera Britten.


Umm, Saruman, I think her name was spelt 'Brittain'. Just to nit-pick! Ok, so

Dreams

[LIST]Sassoons 'waking dream' in the 4th London Hospital, in which he fell asleep during the day sat on a bench outside, and when he woke up, ‘..the pavement was covered in corpses. Old ones, new ones, black, green...' (Regeneration), compare to 'standard battle-issue nightmares, potty officers for the use of' (Regen) and to graphic descriptions, such as the graphic descriptions in Spring Offensive (Owen) 'hot blast and fury of hells upsurge'
Owen's 'The Sentry' is about dreams - ‘..Eyeballs, huge, bulged like squids/Watch my dreams still..’

Memory


Prior from Regeneration - mute and doesnt know why. due to a repressed memory.



The Sentry (Owen) 'I try not to remember these things now'



Anthem for Doomed Youth (Owen) the military remembrance of the fallen - 'bugles calling from sad shires'



These may be of help, they were my coursework! Just want to say, Saruman, its a great idea for a post, and GOOD LUCK EVERYONE, IT WILL ALL BE FINE.
Reply 11
I know this seems long...but it's not that complicated

Theme of youth
Suicide in the trenches - Sassoon ( someone mentioned this piece, but I'm gonna hook you up with his use of structure)

1st stanza

' There was a simple soldier boy who grinned at life...and whistled early with the lark'


- 'lark' ~ a spring bird, spring connotes youth

-'simple' ~ implies innocence

-the fact he rose with the lark 'early' presents enthusiasm and also touches on the caricature of the typical ww1 soldier ~ a young man from the country,hoping to find adventure and to see the world - explicitly presented in pieces like A.E Housman's ' Oh, my lad, stay home and plough'

2nd Stanza

- he boy is described as 'cowed and glum' - a contrast to his previous 'grin'

- season described as 'winter' ~ fortifies his 'glum' depression, in contrast to the positive connotations of the 'lark'

* Due to the contrast, stanza 1 could be seen as a representation of common views at home, earlier in the war , war being seen as a 'testament of youth' , a 'game', or 'show' and stanza 2 - as representing war's true realities

* The piece is written in the form of an Iambic tetrameter ~ the same meter as nursery rhymes ~ this makes the tone of the piece sound positive and jubilant. This tone juxtaposes with the theme 'suicide' and the content of stanza 2 - so it becomes clear that Sassoon is being ironic and attacking the earlier views of the war - held by 'smug faced crowds at home'

* The tone created by the tetrameter, reveals an ironic subtext within the 1st stanza, which initially seemed very positive :

'simple' - could be interpreted as indicating stupidity

'grinned' - arrogant...cocky....mind my french :-)

* These are clear criticisms of earlier perspectives of the war. In criticising positive views of the war, Sassoon joins the ranks of :

- Owen - who famously directs Dulce et decorum est at Jessie pope

-A.E Mackintosh - who may also be seen as attacking pope, inverting her use of 'Laddie' ( as seen int he call) e.g he writes ' Lads. You're wanted. Come and die.

- Vera Brittain - in 'testament of youth' makes a point of placing 'show' in inverted commas - she does this so much that it feels as if shes expressing irritation at the presentation of war in such a way

and so on

I hope that was helpful.....it better be...took me ages to type that up....if not..ach...at least things are clear in MY head - great thread
Reply 12
okay going to add my bit now..

Strange Meeting By Susan Hill (writen in 1989) is a good example opf post war literature
some of the key ideas explored include-
1)Hill says in the Author's Notes that her novel is a "microcosm of the war" to create a "small world in the great would of the war"-she focusses on 2 main characters John Hilliard and David Blunden which makes it easier to communicate what the war was all about arther than taking a much larger perspective
2)the lack of understanding of the "coward complacence" as Sassoon puts it is another idea found in this novel-Hilliard goes home on leave and says "noone knew, nobody understood"
3)Hill talks about a key difference between the 'men' and the officers- "there was not the natural camaraderie to be found among the officers as there was among the men"
4) the maine events from the front line are described through Blunden's letters- ("you cannot imagine how we crave for the small everyday things"-just a little quote from one of his letters that you might want to include in the exam..)

That's the main points i picked up from reading this novel, im sure theres tonnes more..but nehow hope this has been helpful!
Reply 13
Does anyone have any further analysis of War Girls by Jessie Pope? Thanks

not analysis...but I picked up the point yesterday that war girls ( and other pieces of a similar point) is NOT typical of female poets - female liberation early in the war was seen as unpatriotic~ so most women opted not to write about it, the suffrage movement was only small, and many from the movement chose to shift their focus from the rights of women , to throwing themselves into the war effort. e.g Mary Allen - she was at the centre of the suffrage movement, but in 1914, decided to join the police women volunteers....

not like...in depth poetic analysis....but it's still pretty relevant..
Reply 14
hey guys! ok I havn't analysed this poem cos it's pretty self explainatory, but just thought you might like the extra resource, it's quite different to most of the other stuff and I've only seen it in one book, so you may not have come accross it? I love it! (sad as that may sound!)

The Chances - Wilfred Owen

I mind as 'ow before the show
Us five got talkin', we was in the know.
'Over the top tomorrer; boys we're for it.
First wave we are, first ruddy wave; that's tore it!'
'Ah well', says Jimmy, and he's seen some scrappin'-
'There aint no more nor five things as can 'appen:
Ye get knocked out; else wounded - bad or cushy;
Scuppered; or nowt except yer feelin' mushy.'

One of us got the knock out, blown to chops
T'other was 'urt, like, losin' both 'is props.
An one, to use the word of 'ypocrites,
'Ad the misfortoon to be took be Fritz.
Now me, I wasn't scratched, praise God Almighty,
(Though next time please, I'll thank him for a blighty).
But poor old Jim, 'e's livin' an' 'e's not;
'E reckoned 'e'd five chances, an' 'e 'ad;
'E's wounded, killed, and prisoner, all the lot,
The bloody lot all rolled in one. Jim's mad.


Loads of themes in that... class, madness, blighties, comeradery (sp??) etc
It's a cool one! :cool:
lambychopkins
Does anyone have any further analysis of A Dead Boche by Robert Graves ?


Ok, A Dead Boche.

1. Think of Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est - compare to the 'to those who've read my songs of war and only hear of blood and fame' bit
2. the word 'Boche' is slang (for use in the language analysis)
3. the soldier depicted at the end - could be any soldier - english/german/french etc.
4. the bit 'today i found in mametz wood a certain cure for lust of blood' - an attempt at humour in the poem - black humour.
5. Remember to include when he wrote the poem (the date has escaped me atm, Im doin this without my notes as revision!! :p:)
6. He actually did find a german corpse in Mametz Wood in the fighting - first hand experience.
7. 'dribbling black blood from nose and beard' - alliteration of 'b'

Hope this helps.
Reply 16
Tiggy18
Does anyone know anything about the poem The charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson.. an anaylsis would be useful or do you no if it is pro war or anti war i keep getting confused with this:confused:

Thanks

PS: This is a really useful thread for my revision thanks :smile:


According to that learned voice of Stephen Fry (I shall quote directly here) he suggests that Tennyson decided upon the use of;
"Falling rhythms and dactyls and trochees would be a good choice, echoing the fierceness and rush of the action and suggesting the cadences of a bugle sounding the charge"

Use of "slant-rhymes" i.e. "thundered" "sundered" "blundered". Often these serve as onomatopoeic...This is what Fry calls a "small nucleus" of rhyms which "set up a pattern of expectation in the listener's or reader's ear."

Fry continues to suggest that "The rhyming, quite as much as the rhythm, helps generate all the pity, pride and excitement for which the poem is renowned."

Fry makes another interesting point, "It is pleasingly typical, at all events, that this, the best-known poem we have on a military theme, memorialises failure".

B. Tuchman makes an interesting point about recalling the war in this manner (I believe he may have been writing about WWII, however) "Retreat or advance, win or lose, blunder or bravery...all emerge alike clothed in dignity and touched with glory".

I hope that helps!
Reply 17
"He actually did find a german corpse in Mametz Wood in the fighting - first hand experience" I found that really interesting, where did you find out about that? Thanks
Reply 18
Great notes people! Just to add a bit more though, these are good quotes to use from T.S. Eliot's 'The Wasteland', which is all about Europe after the war.

'What branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish?' Nature has been destroyed, is there any hope for the future etc.

I can connect / Nothing with nothing Lack of understanding or communication between the veterans and the survivors

crowds of people walking round in a ring Link to Dante's 'Inferno', it suggests that the survivors are in a kind of living hell (it's a reference to Dante's concentric circles of hell). It's quite a good quote to compare to Owen's 'Strange Meeting'.

I had not thought death had undone so many Here, Eliot suggests that in the aftermath of the war, everything and everyone living is spiritually dead and, again, in a living hell.

What shall we ever do? Hopelessness

If you don't give it him there's others will Surplus of women at the end of the war - link to Vera Brittain's 'The Superfluous Woman'. You can also take it as a condemnation of how the war has even corrupted women, who pre-war were supposedly virtuous and chaste - a good link is to Edmund Blunden's 'Report on Experience', when he says I heard her lyric warp / I saw her smile deaden / She turned to harlotry / This I took to be new.

HURRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME Yes, it's meant to be in capitals :p: This is repeated several times in the second canto, giving a sense of desperacy as people had a new understanding of the fragility of life and their own mortality. Time is running out for this generation.

'A heap of broken images' Lost dreams, shattered illusions

You who were with me in the ships at Mylae! / That corpse you planted last year in your garden / Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? The reference to Mylae I think is meant to portray WW1 as a symbol for all wars, as Mylae was a famous battle in classical history (but you might want to check that, as I'm not completely sure). The corpse in the garden is reminiscent of the bodies buried in the mud of the trenches, and the idea that it will 'sprout' is symbolic of a fear that the past will return to haunt them or will recur. You can also use it as an example of shell-shock, in which case you can link it to Woolf's 'Mrs Dalloway' and the character of Septimus Smith: And now the dead, now Evans himself... "For God's sake, don't come!" Septimus cried out, for he could not look upon the dead.

But at my back in a cold blast I hear / The rattle of bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear This pastiches Marvell's poem 'To His Coy Mistress' to give a sense of impending doom through the battlefield images of 'bones'. It also suggests the deranged mental state of the soldiers after WW1.

Last one:
You! hypocrite lecteur! - mon semblable, - mon frere! The use of French suggests that all nations are alike in their grief.


Hope some of this is useful!
Reply 19
I was wondering if an introduction is useful? An introduction of just war knowledge in general.. for example,

The First World War (1914-1918) is associated with and commemorated by its poetry. Poets wrote poems to express their feelings throughout the war and in doing so, captured some of the horrific events they witnessed... etc

Do they want this kind of thing or is it a straight in, in-depth comparison? :confused:

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