Authors and poets primarily use literary devices to provide a greater understanding for their own work, yet some writers use them effectively while others fail in doing so. In “Grenadier” the poet, A.E Housman effectively uses symbolism, meter, rhyme and imagery to emphasize the cheap price of human life during a war, within the perspective of a dying draft soldier.
This poem follows a common meter that consists of an iambic tetrameter followed by an iambic trimeter. It contains five stanzas in quatrains each following an ABAB rhyme scheme. This meter and rhyme are very commonly found throughout poetry and as such convey a sense of commonality. This commonality helps us more easily identify with the universal message conveyed by Housman about the futility of war. Housman’s deliberate omission of the “young man [’s]” name further accentuates the idea of this poem being a universal message.
In the first two stanzas, Housman creates an image of a person being drafted into the army, and eventually losing his identity and independence. The first line: “The queen she sent to look for me” subtly indicates that the soldier has been drafted, but it does not tell the reader outright. The surprise the reader gets in finding out in the next line that the soldier is drafted is akin to that of the “young man” who learns of his draft notice. In the last line of the first stanza, Housman uses symbolism to foreshadow the imminent death of the soldier. He does so by the skilful use of the number thirteen: “young man, a soldier will you be for thirteen pence a day”. If a soldier were paid “thirteen pence”, thirteen being an unlucky number, he would surely die on the battlefield. Thirteen pence is also a very small amount of money even in tho...
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...how he will “have to bate [his] price even further than a measly thirteen pence. Thirteen pence is a recurring line which ties into Housman’s understanding of the apparent cheapness of human life during war. For thirteen pence a young man has been forced to give up his identity, for thirteen pence he has died in a war, for thirteen pence more young men shall die, and when he dies he will lose even those thirteen pence.
In conclusion, the poet very effectively uses his imagery, and correctly, portrays the despair felt by a dying soldier, reinforcing that point is the rampant use of symbolisms that help the reader draw their own conclusions. Moreover, the common meter, and rhyme scheme helps us more easily associate the poem to a broader range of people. Housman has shown with his skill in rhetoric the cheap price of human life during a war for his poem “Grenadier”.
The powerful poem ‘Weapons Training’ showcases a sergeant, through malicious words, guiding his troops. However it is through ‘Homecoming’, where Dawe exposes the brutal hopelessness brought forth by the futility of war. Therefore it can be seen that war has an emotional toll on both families and the soldiers. Both poems have a recurring message that all war does is bring loss, death and mourning, showcasing Dawes strong opinions about a futile
The speakers in A. E. Housman poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” and Edward Arlington Robinson poem “Richard Cory” serve different purposes but uses irony and rhyme to help convey their message. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience dying young with glory is more memorable than dying old with glory. In “Richard Cory” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience “you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
As he never actually reached the front line, Brooke’s form of idealistic imagery was fueled by the extensively patriotic propaganda of the time. Death as a theme in ‘The Soldier’ is therefore depicted simply as more of an accepted cost for the country, with Brooke envisioning dying itself, rather grandly as leaving ‘Some corner of a foreign field…forever England.’
This poem dwells heavily on the problems in war. It describes how high the death toll is for both sides. Slessor uses “convoys of dead sailors” to show that all these dead body’s are very much alike, with their movements and feelings being the same. It also outlines a major problem in war, being able to identify and bury they dead properly. "And each cross, the driven stake of tide-wood, bears the last signature of m...
... horrors of war such as, his parents who still view war as glamorous and idealistic. War takes a heavy toll on soldiers who fight in it and in these dangerous moments anybody would have gone insane. It takes a very special type of soldier to be able to handle both the psychological and physical challenges that a soldier has to face in everyday battle. A soldier such as this must be capable of handling the sight of a mutilated comrade and not immediately chatter to pieces. The author conveys this message in his extreme use of words with negative connotation such as shells, typhus, dysentery, and trenches. In this portion of the novel a great deal of emphasis is placed on the word death which is repeated several times and standing on its own it holds a great deal of negative connotations. Therefore, due to the severity of the situation and the extensive use of words with negative connotations the overall tone of the novel appeared to be very depressing or serious. This selection also demonstrates just how mythical the character of war that many individuals who have not experienced the tragedy of battle believe to be true by illustrating just how appalling and grim war is in reality.
War and its ramifications for those who are unfortunately entangled in it, is an issue that has fueled both political discussion and literary exploration throughout the previous century. Underived, authentic accounts of the experience and effects of war, from those who have served in it, can be especially enlightening for the majority of society who have had the fortune of not being intimately familiar with war. Through the examination of poems and stories written by soldiers, who were inspired by their involvement in conflict, one can obtain a greater understanding of this gruesome aspect of life, without having to directly experience it. Similarly, soldier turned poet, Bruce Weigl, has contributed his perspective on war through his literary
...t some fickleness therein. It must be said in conclusion if these works do in fact mirror the "thoughts at heart" within Housman, that his sexuality combined with his philosophy of love culminate in an intensely masochistic lifestyle. Such is reflected by the guilt that is obviously associated by the speaker of "Is my team ploughing" deciding to take his dead friend’s sweetheart. In poem XXII the speaker relays the contentment which he finds in the mutual emotions of love between he and the redcoat, but at the same time XXVII relays the frustrations ultimately found in being alone. To invest such emotional intensity only to knowingly find unrequited perspectives manifests itself as personified hope in both poems of which speak of experiences of intimate gratification and internal content.
Ultimately, we have two poems which can be compared on the grounds of their subject, but are poles apart regarding their message. The structure of these poems is not what would be typically expected from a war poem, but are structured on the basis of these typical structures in order to create some sense of familiarity. Brooke’s poem expands on this familiarity while Owen attempts to deliberately sabotage it. In regards to content, Brooke shows throughout his perception of the nobility of dying for one’s country, whilst Owen uses all of his poetic techniques to show the opposite.
The title ‘Anthem of Doomed Youth’, is juxtaposed to its real meaning of anthem being something to celebrate and be proud of. The assonance between the ‘Doomed’ and collective noun ‘Youth’ can come as a shock to society as topic of death and youth do not go together. In other words, the soldiers are too young and are already fated to death by enlisting in the war. This highlights how war is cruel as the soldiers are stolen of their youth, entering a battlefield designed to ‘sapt the soldier 's spirit.’ Furthermore, Owen shows that the fallen soldiers themselves will not get a proper burial of “candles,” “pall,” nor “flowers.” Instead, these are substituted with negative imagery “The pallor of girls’ brows” and personification “patient minds” to demonstrate that the thoughts of the ones waiting for the fallen soldiers back home are the closest thing they will have to a funeral. This is epitomised in the personification “bugles calling them from sad shires,” which conveys a nation in mourning back home. Collectively, these poetic devices in “Anthem for the Doomed Youth” shows that the death of the young soldiers negatively affects the people around
The men are a vital role in the poem, as the general, uses his military background to help guide and train the “privates” he also distinguishes the role that the men will have to play later on with after the war is done and over with. To help realize this idea it is developed through the speaker, imagery and irony
As a poet, Wilfred Owens wants to show the effects of warfare from the viewpoint of a soldier during a War. Owens uses his own experience as a fighter to capture the reader’s attention and get across his point. He often uses graphic imagery and words to depict his thoughts about war. Wilfred Owens, poems, “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Anthem for doomed youth” talk blatantly about the effects of warfare on the soldiers, their loved ones, and those who make an ultimate sacrifice by making a statement about the efficacy of war.
War is a patriotic act where one seeks the determination to lead their country. It can be viewed noble, cruel, inhumane and can make an individual a hero or a criminal. It effects everyone in a society, hoping their loved one is safe whether fighting in the trenches or waiting at home. It has led to severe individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Two poems in war literature “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen and “Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa, the authors’ different perspectives will be presented. Owen portrays war as a horror battlefield not to be experienced and the glorious feeling to fight for one’s country. Komunyakaa on the other hand shows an African American that serves in Vietnam War and visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The poets’ choice of diction, setting of battlefield and various uses of poetic devices create a desired effect.
The simple definition of war is a state of armed competition, conflict, or hostility between different nations or groups; however war differs drastically in the eyes of naive children or experienced soldiers. Whether one is a young boy or a soldier, war is never as easy to understand as the definition. comprehend. There will inevitably be an event or circumstance where one is befuddled by the horror of war. For a young boy, it may occur when war first breaks out in his country, such as in “Song of Becoming.” Yet, in “Dulce et Decorum Est” it took a man dying in front of a soldier's face for the soldier to realize how awful war truly is. Both “Song of Becoming” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” are poems about people experiencing the monstrosity of war for the first time. One is told from the perspective of young boys who were stripped of their joyful innocence and forced to experience war first hand. The other is from the perspective of a soldier, reflecting on the death of one of his fellow soldiers and realizing that there is nothing he can do to save him. While “Song of Becoming” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” both focus on the theme of the loss of innocence, “Song of Becoming” illustrates how war affects the lives of young boys, whereas “Dulce et Decorum Est” depicts the affect on an experienced soldier.
In conclusion, Owen only loosely bases the structure of this free-verse poem on the iambic pentameter. The comparison of the past and the present emphasizes on what the soldier has lost in war. There are several recurring themes shown throughout the poem, such as reminiscence and sexual frustration. Reminiscence is shown through the references to his life before the war, while sexual frustration is depicted through the unlikeliness of a girl ever loving him due to his disability. The message that Owen is trying to get across to his readers is the falseness of war propaganda and pacifism – what war can do to one - and he conveys his ideas using various themes, language and through the free-verse structure of this poem.
This allows for a smooth transition in his description of the ritual that marks a soldier’s death. To draw attention to the tears “in their eyes”, which could be in the eyes of the dead soldier or of their brothers at war, they are connected to the “glimmer of good-byes”, to represent the quick mourning for the soldiers (10-11). The connection here is furthered with the use of enjambment at the end of the tenth line; with no grammatical separation, the thought smoothly transitions from one line to the other. On the other hand, Keats uses the exact Shakespearean rhyme In the sonnets “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be”, by John Keats, and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, by Wilfred Owen, the poets’ use of formal elements create distinctions to mark the speakers’ thoughts and build upon the situation.