Different Attitudes of the First World War as Expressed in Poems by Various Artists

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Recommended: Discussing the history and purpose of War Poetry

When war first broke out in 1914 the general attitude towards it was patriotism. Many young men grabbed the chance to fight for their country and show the women their braveness, they thought they would come back heroes, however they did not know what happened beyond the cheerful and brave faces seen in the news papers and the blissful time the soldiers had in their letters home. This made many more men go to war. Things gradually changed, death, disease, mud, it had suddenly hit that to fight for your country was not such an honour.

Soldiers firstly began to write poetry because poetry was the most important mode of expression for those who were shocked and disillusioned by the realities of the First World War.

I will be discussing five poems written by well-known war poets such as:

‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke, ‘Into Battle’ by Julian Grenfell, ‘Dulce et decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen, ‘Base Details’ by Siegfried Sassoon and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen.

Julian Grenfell had many years of editing before becoming a distinguished war poet in his local newspaper. But he had always had his heart set on being part of the military. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1914. A year later, 1915, he was wounded in the head during battle and died later in hospital of shrapnel in the skull. Grenfell had always praised war saying in letters home “ I adore war…it is like a big picnic, its all the best fun one ever dreamed of.” ‘Into Battle’ is a positive poem in which war is glorified.

Rupert Brooke’s war experience consisted of one day of limited military action with the Hood Battalion during the evacuation of Antwerp. He never fought in the war as he died on Easter Sunday 1915 aged 28 from blood p...

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...many to die but are given not burial, they just lie under rubble from buildings and their own skin serves as their pall? The “drawing down of blinds” could be the eyes that are shut in mourning, or the eyes that are shut as they die or it could even signify the blinds being drawn at night where a person kneels down to pray for those at war.

There is either a positive or a negative attitude in war, there is no poet that will write both kinds of poems during the same time, there is always change in view as the time and the battle draws on. In most poems there is a definite sadness, the horrific images described and the loneliness and feeling of detachment from the world or the patriotism and honour to fight for one’s country. There are so many attitudes to war because people feel there are certain reasons for it, it also depends on what part you play in the war.

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