Analysis Of Quebec By Lewis Paul Hyatte

INTRODUCTION

How many wars and battles the humankind went through ? How many times the same territory was a place for different battles ? How people understand and portray something that is called "war" ?

I have chosen The Battle of Quebec (1759), with the aim to look deeply at the most famous and glorious battle I have ever heard . I have determined different pieces of work, which illustrate people's vision and understanding of battle, and suggest what it felt like. Firstly, the painting by Benjamin West " The Death of General James Wolfe" as a visual image, that can tell us a lot about how people pictured something in its entirety. Secondly, the poem by Lewis Paul Hyatt "The Battle of Quebec", which reveals important details through

the chronological order of events. And finally, the song " Bold General Wolfe" performed by Maddy Prior. The comparison of those three pieces will depict the influence of the war upon people's minds and feelings, and will try to answer my personal question , does war cause something else beside horror, death and grief ?
The Battle of Quebec itself took place on September 13, 1759 in Quebec city in Canada, during Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War. The Quebec city is located on "the rock of Quebec", to the north of which lies the valley of the St. Charles and to the south that of the St. Lawrence, near located the St. Charles river , which was called "The River of Fire" afterwards.
The combatants were the British and Americans ( the force was around 4,500 men and 1 gun) against the French and Canadians (a force about 5 000 men and 3 guns). Both armies were under the leadership of two significant generals: Major General James Wolfe and Marquis de Montcalm. Both commanders had strong strategies and abilities to outfox each other with inimitable dexterity. The battle didn't last long, both generals were mortally wounded and died on 13th of September.
The victory of English forces was an event that significantly changed the history of the continent and bring new heroes to the world. The battle caused the fall of Montreal the next year and led to a British victory.
From this war General James Wolfe became a national hero, who with his stubbornness and experience led to the British victory. Significance of his figure is clearly seen on the painting "The Death of General James Wolfe " (1770) by Benjamin West.
The painting has triangular composition and portrays the moment of General Wolfe being mortally wounded. The dying General Wolfe, in the uniform of a British officer, is the focus of the whole painting. Dr. Bryan Zygmont in his article says that General Wolfe is depicted as a "Christ-like figure", he is surrounded by the circle of identifiable officers, which demonstrates his importance as a general . However due to historical facts by the moment of death, General Wolfe was surrounded only by 4 people, one of them was Lieutenant Henry Browne, who holds the British flag behind Wolfe, so the author emphasized his value as a national hero of that time.
Not only General Wolfe, but also the stranger on the foreground, dressed like an American Indian, captures our eye. It is clear that he does not belong to any forces, that makes me think about him as an independent spectator. The image of him, sitting and observing the two countries fighting for the land, made me wonder what is he thinking about and feeling while watching this scene. The officers express a lot of emotions on their faces , but this stranger looks so placid and indifferent, so his figure is capturing the attention, being in contrast with everyone else.
The mood of the painting has a double impression.

It illustrates the moment of the death, which brings on the feeling of grief and sadness, in contrast with joy about the victory. The history sources add, that General Wolfe found out about the British victory right before the actual death, it was the last thing he had heard, so it is also a moment of a great happiness. And if we pay attention on the sky, we will see, that half of it filled with clouds and another half (where we can see the messenger with good news) is clear.

I am positive that it is what makes this painting so powerful for me, the description of light and darkness at the same moment. Furthermore, I see on this painting the direct connection, or even equation, that shows people's thoughts and feelings about war. For me painting is clearly say : " War = Death".

So, this painting creates a visual depiction of what people think and feel. The next two pieces create a different kind of impression, they are not showing us how it look directly, it is not something we can see with our eyes.

The poem was written by Lewis Paul Hyatt, who dedicated his life to history, and wrote 640 poems . The poem " The Battle of Quebec" was included in his first release "My

Words".
The first time I have read this poem, I felt that it is impregnated with patriotic spirit, and every line is written proudly and sublimely. It sounds heroic while you are reading through it, the lines "England and France are mighty powers. A long hard war to make." infer that combatants both are very strong, and the war won't be so simple. Again, as a painting of dying general shows us that he is brave enough to sacrifice his life for the sake of victory, the poem says directly :
"The Major General Games Wolfe
Thirty and three years old
Was in command and highly praised
Brave, strong, devoted and bold"
The author is also give us the possibility to imagine what would be the last words of brave general : "Don't let the French retreat and go
To fight again one day".

It demonstrates what kind of patriotic person he was, even in the last minutes of his life he cares about destiny of his country

To compare the painting and the poem is difficult, because I feel that they complement each other, the painting is something you see while you're reading poem, and poem is a background of picture. However the painting is dedicated to General Wolfe, and the poem briefly telling the story in a right order with all historical nuances . I think the author is trying to explain the historical context using the simplest poetry language.

The third piece of work is the song "Bold General Wolfe" performed by Maddy Prior and her daughter Rose Kemp (with lyrics quite similar to the Watersons' version) at Cecil Sharp House, London, on October 23, 2008. The main difference is that it feels like the story is told not by spectator but by direct participant , by soldier for instance. Furthermore, various instruments add solemnity to the sounding of the song. The lyrics of the songs is even more emphasizing the patriotism of General Wolfe in lines : "Old England, she shall win today". And the last words of General Wolfe described differently, he refers to his home and asks to pass "goodbye" to his mother :" And tell my tender old mother dear, That I am dead, oh, I am dead, oh, And never shall see her no more". And here is a screaming sign of his patriotic heart, before he calls his homeland "Old England" and he uses the same adjective

"old" for his mother., so he is thinking about his homeland as about mother, with tenderness and love, because the mother is the most special person in everyone's life. The main purpose of this song is to commemorate General Wolfe and remind people about the place of homeland in our life, to remind that once in a lifetime someone who loved his homeland enough to give up his life on it.
So, after setting this pieces of the particular battle, side by side and looking for similarities and differences , I would say that the war makes it clear to people on which side they are, where they belong. It awakes the sense of patriotism, it forces people realize how precious is your homeland. Overall when I thought about nowadays, and particularly about the war in my homeland, what amazed me is that like General Wolfe there are people who love their country enough to fight for it. So, the war brings understanding of what you have and what you love, even if at the same time it brings grief and sorrow and unwelcome victims. The war is definitely has "bad" and "good" impact on people, we will never consider it as a totally good thing, however it is a blast, which suddenly brings a lot of things to think about.