Siegfried Sassoon War Poetry - Log The dugout - Extended metaphor/allegory for death Punctuation - Breath, breath, breath, stop… dead. Emotional pain A question in the first sentence indicating the first stage of grief - denial Writing about a young comrade - the young age highlights the tragedy of the situation Ungainly - negative word Sullen, cold, exhausted - someone already dead Exhausted face - death and dying with an ugly corpse, lifeless, used ‘’Live fast die young and leave a beautiful corpse’’ - not in this case lol Question mark ends in the middle of the line just like his life ending too soon. It wasn't meant to end Alliteration - hurts my heart Guttering - like a candle guttering Gutter - dark, shadows guttering into craters Gutter - a whole where something lies, resembling the deep cuts and bruises in the person’s face and around him Glittering gold vs guttering gold - contrast. Reference to young bright light that is disappearing and guttering Shaking by the shoulder - blind hope and denial Asleep forever - dead When you sleep you remind me of the dead - is he sleeping or dead? Difficult to discern what's going on Innocence and destruction of innocence, death, the pain, absurdity, and hopelessness of war The hero ST1 Symbolism Jack - common name Mother - capitalised as if it’s a name. When grieving a child she's not her own person she's a mother. That's the mother of a child. Mother - motherland, losing another soldier Tired - tragic but tired voice could suggest that she might have lost a lot of people and is exhausted by this We Mothers are proud of our soldiers - the country and motherland proud of soldiers not sons Imagery Broke - the heartbreak of a mother Quavered - only real tragedy epxressed from the mother since she's acting proud Was bowed - bow down, lose hope in life, half looking up because she’s already been losing hope Semantic field (repetition of words similar to each other to emphasise a point or imagery) - folding quivered choke bowed - theme of pain loss and suffering ST2 Gallant lies - juxtaposition Nourish - death nourishing is ironic No doubt - naive, not questioning whether her son was a hero or not and just believe it Weak eyes - weak, tired, been through and seen a lot, cried a lot Gentle triumph - ironic that you feel this way after a death Boy - it's just a boy. His mothers boy. Not a soldier, not worthy of death. ST3 He thought - truth about the soldier, not mothers pov. Inner thoughts Cold-footed - cold feet, cold trenches, or cold feet, scared of the war and wanting home Cold footed - no true hero runs away in the face of danger Useless swine - big contrast At last - ironic - finally, at last he died. Not going home or winning, its death Metaphor - swine - degrades him and makes him seem worthless. Heightens irony to the name of poem Home; how - his death, breaths Lonely - imagery Woman with white hair - old woman, the mother. White hair from worrying too much and from shock White hair - this death has made her old and tired Small bits - imagery Punctuation - staccato and breaks the readers breath before he finally dies Full stop at the end - it's over he died there's nothing we can do about it Woman - just another woman losing her child Siegfried Sassoon: Lest we forget ● homosexual but never came out ● WW1 - Died in 1967 Suicide in the Trenches I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. - Simple- soldier assonance Simplistic, lighthearted tonality Juxtaposition heightened by the simple and cheerful tonality Aa bb cc dd ee ff - simplistic rhyme Boy not a man- innocence Themes: war, ignorance, death, ignorant public Tone: cheerful, simple at first Structure: simple, short ( like a boy’s life) It's simple and cheerful just like the young boys going who dont know any better who are just kids Criticism of society, religion, all those dominant structures A lot of contrasts and juxtaposition Metaphor: hell= war - He wants people to understand how bad war is The whole poem could be an extended metaphor for lost innocence, the dead innocent child in us Contrast of pray and hell Jingoism The Dug-Out Punctuation is an allegory for the extended metaphor of the shortness of life. - First stage of grief the first 3 lines Tragedy of a short life A dead person with an exhausted face, scary Exhausted- used, done , gives the idea the person is dead The question mark sits strangely in the middle of the poem because the soldier’s life ended too soon, too early on Hurts my heart- alliteration Guttering of a candle, like life Deep shadow- guttering gold ( young person, something valuable is being lost) horrible contrast Guttering gold is not a good thing though Continual reference to the young death The disappearing life Elypsis. Expresses thought And when you sleep you remind me of the dead Find the beauty in the mundane. In the grey summer garden I shall find you With day-break and the morning hills behind you. There will be rain-wet roses; stir of wings; And down the wood a thrush that wakes and sings. Not from the past you'll come, but from that deep Where beauty murmurs to the soul asleep: And I shall know the sense of life re-born From dreams into the mystery of morn Where gloom and brightness meet. And standing there Till that calm song is done, at last we'll share The league-spread, quiring symphonies that are Joy in the world, and peace, and dawn’s one star. - Represents pastoral activity, meant to be calm, romantic About a funeral, the person returned to a place of peace Probably written for someone close to the author Grey summer garden- sad, it is a funeral, but a reference to heaven He will find the person in the future; nostalgia and longing Hopeful Melancholy introduction to the poem With day break; birth of something, new beginnings are possible also in death Even though someone has died, there is a realisation there is something beyond this world Morning hills behind you- country, not an urban jungle Morning- pun for mourning, even the land is sad The person that died is the most important part of this poem Description of the scene: rain wet roses; love for somebody, rain wet- something is growing ; stir of wings is emphasised Thrush, a bird, You will be someone new when we meet again Where beauty murmurs to the soul asleep- place of spirituality, somewhere grand When i see you again, i will know there is life after death Where gloom and brightness meet- gloom is the sadness and happiness meet, Quiring- brought together They will be togehter till the earth is done We will once be in heaven together About hope, there is something beyond death Imagery: nature and spiritualism, natural calm relaxing world Aa, bb, cc, dd, breaks after gloom and brightness meet Where gloom and brightness meet is the main point of the poem; funeral, death and life Till is capitalized as it represents the final ending Joy is capitalized is due to the reference of importance of joy MEMORY When I was young my heart and head were light, And I was gay and feckless as a colt Out in the fields, with morning in the may, Wind on the grass, wings in the orchard bloom. O thrilling sweet, my joy, when life was free And all the paths led on from hawthorn-time Across the carolling meadows into June. But now my heart is heavy-laden. I sit Burning my dreams away beside the fire: For death has made me wise and bitter and strong; And I am rich in all that I have lost. O starshine on the fields of long-ago, Bring me the darkness and the nightingale; Dim wealds of vanished summer, peace of home, And silence; and the faces of my friends. - His memories and nostalgia First stanza: his youth, talks about himself as a young boy Second stanza: him when old, after and during the war First line: reminiscent tone Second line: colt; baby horse, he longs for being weak 3rd and 4th lines full of imagery Across the caroling meadows into June- June was the last month before the war began The new stanza starts with but then, indicating that old age has begun My heart is heavy, the sadness the subject feels, heavy- laden ( tautology) I sit, nothing can be done to change his current state Fire- change of himself Death of his comrades Wise- bitter- strong ( he did not only gain positive from death) He is rich-he values his strenghth O starshine.. ; he is remembering it, starshine- positive connotation O - oxymoron, remembering his youth, nostalgia ?? Nightingale- symbolizes beauty and melody Dim wealds- idealized summer Idyll is a type of poem that focuses on pastoral Element of nature in the first stanza could be associated with freedom Iambic pentameter, the shakespearean heartbeat A very direct switch between two different feelings, apparent ( as the diction is very similar Notes: First Stanza ● Heart and head - alliteration ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● …were light - purity, innocence, no painful, heavy memories Feckless as a colt - simile shows how irresponsible he was in comparison to a baby horse. Colt allegory used to express youth and having to grow up fast. Fields, wings, free - freedom Morning in the may - double meaning: the month leading into june and the flowers of a hawthorn, alliteration Sweet, joy, orchard bloom - positive adjectives, ‘blooming’ - abundance, prosperity Lots of imagery Hawthorn-time - plant that grows may flowers, and a period of love and protection Carolling - walking merrily and ignorantly into a new reality Second Stanza ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Heart and heavy - alliteration and contrast to first line of first stanza Heavy-laden - words have same meaning, tautology used to emphasise heavy Beside the fire: colon symbolises a transition Death, wise, bitter, strong - negative adjectives Strong; semicolon symbolises… Rich in all that I have lost - contrast/paradox between richness which is associated with prosperity except that it’s about loss Richness in (negative adjectives used) Nightingale - symbol for darkness/hope Dim wealds - something fading but it is still present And silence; - the silence could be either a representation of death or peace. The semicolon used to indicate that something is not over yet (?) And the faces of my friends - double meaning, bittersweet Analysing poetry: - Title Structure The voice/speaker Setting and subject Theme Imagery Rhyme, rhythm, repetition Poetic devices (e.g. figures of speech) mood/tone Overall message Iambic pentameter- - 10 beats, 5 short 5 long ( 5 stressed 5 unstressed) Traditional iambic pentameter starts with a stressed word AFTERMATH Have you forgotten yet?... For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days, Like traffic checked a while at the crossing of city ways: And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow Like clouds in the lit heavens of life; and you're a man reprieved to go, Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare. But the past is just the same—and War's a bloody game... Have you forgotten yet?... Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget. Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz— The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets? Do you remember the rats; and the stench Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench— And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain? Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?' Do you remember that hour of din before the attack— And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men? Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back With dying eyes and lolling heads—those ashen-gray Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay? Have you forgotten yet?... Look up, and swear by the slain of the war that you'll never forget! - - The title- negative consequences of an event First stanza: sarcastically talks about why we should forget about the war Last two lines- ominous tonality But the past is just the same- no matter how much you try to change the past you cannot Second stanza: do you remember- the audience cannot remember those events, this is a blaming and guilty tone Third stanza: you- ambiguous Masks referring to death Last line reinforces the idea of the whole poem; do you remember and you should not forget Tonality and mood- contrast in the italicised and non italicised lines, the contrast is constant, starts as ominous, is carefree and joyful later on ( traffic, clouds); not in any way concerning All of the mentioned above is said sarcastically Second stanza: dark, grim Third stanza: melancholic tone, still talks about war Last two lines of the third stanza the tonality chances once more, it is hopeful Rhyme scheme: ABBCCDEAA, AFFGG ( consistent), HIIHJJAA Overall quite disjointed, with only a few patterns to be seen between them The third stanza almost pairs up with the first one Vivid images of rats in the second stanza, Second stanza: consistent rhyme scheme, vivid description of the Battle of Mametz Third stanza: they have all been strain from their identities, emphasizing that those were people who gave their lives for us, for our countries, they should be respected He is blaming the audience in the last lines but also beginning for them Context: about the battle of Mametz, Armistice Day ( end of the war), the poem was broadcast to civilians on that day Literary devices: 1. Juxtaposition- contrast between the title and the rest of the poem ( the title- cold, the personal and sensitive content of the poem ) Anaphora- group of words that is repeated throughout the poem Polysyndeton- repeated use of conjunctions ( and to connect different items instead of using commas; x and y and z) Simile- comparing two different elements Enjambment and imagery - Enjambment makes the reader feel anxious as he or she never knows when the line will end or stop An abundance of adjectives to have an accurate image of a certain situation The whole poem is an allegory Addresses a broader audience - Something is physically wrong with the soldier Aqueous like floating rays of amber light - shows that something is wrong Introduces that the person’s perception is not clear The juxtaposition between death and the positive words Death is portrayed as something Silence and safety, the s sound gives the feeling the person is asleep The beginning stanza is an introductory stanza, the miniature version of this poem A lot of words that could be associated with the ocean Stanza 2 - The first line- gives a reference to sickness - In the second line- the word moan resembles pain; he cannot express it with words but rather with a moan - Crimson- a symbol of blood and pain - Darkness- unconsciousness - Gloom- partially blind and moves on to darkness - The second half of the stanza might seem incoherent - The mental landscape of water as a contrast - Reference to a boat; metaphor to the river Stix with the boat, going to the afterlife - An alley - Birds and flowers and colors all mentioned, sleeping - Death is portrayed as something natural, preferable - Shaken hues of the summer- loss of a young life Stanza 3 - Onomateopia- the w sound in the first line - The imagery of the wind; inevitable death - Repetition of the word night represents the darkness of a hospital bed - The night is personified in this stanza of darkness and death - The juxtaposition between the opioid-induced sleep and reality portrays the glorification of war and the reality of it - Gummering curve; terrifying imagery Stanza 4 - Fragrance and passionless music woven as one- reference to rain - The author emphasises the importance of rain which focuses on the senses the soldier has not lost ( as he is blind now) - The use of rain continues the idea of water throughout the poem The use of commas and semi colons ended with a full stop shows the ending of rain as well as possibly the end of the soldier’s life. Stanza 5 - Second line - Someone comes to the soldier - Death is personified - Comfort to the reader Stanza 6 - Imperative verbs ( telling people to do something, do, connect, ..) - Last two lines, sassoon s opinions are coming through - Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet. - He’s young; he hated war; how should he die. ( the semi colons are structured wisely ) - He is essentially asking people to hate the war and not send soldiers to war Stanza 7 - The first line shows that the poem is about a soldier; the death is a higher authority giving him an order, choosing him - The stanza is the shortest out of all of them, his life is about to end shortly - Summer night- juxtaposition; you do not expect a death in the summer but rather in the winter - Silence and safety are cynical, - He is safe from the horrors of war, he cannot be hurt anymore now that he is dead - Very clear anti-war message in the last few lines - Even though there is silence and safety there is still a war going on, wants to encourage the readers to end the war THE HERO - 1917 - The title is deceiving as the poem is actually about death - The first stanza is a lie; idea of a heroic rhyme - The rhyme scheme breaks in the second stanza when we find out that the first one is a line - First stanza: irony, he does not wish to die, proud- ironic, mothers should not be dead when their sons die, a person only becomes a hero after they die - Symbolism- jack is one of the most common names in the UK, symbolises the story of many soldiers - When grieving, she is just a mother, not her own person Mother- motherland Tired- lost multiple people in the war, not just Jack Mothers- soldiers ( motherland and their soldiers) Soldier instead of son because their sons do not belong to their mothers anymore Looking up, only half, hope is lost She was bowed- semantic field of pain and suffering Second stanza: On Passing The New Menin Gate - Memorial to remember those who went missing during WW1 - The gate is located in Ypres, Belgium - Themes: propaganda and lies, glorification of war - Shakespearean sonnet, iambic pentameter - Usually a love poem; the poet really cares about the missing soldiers - Passing through the gate - Third stanza: world's worst war ( world war one ( wone sound)) - Enjambment - Immolation, sacrifice - Name and name, how identities are lost and soldiers are not remembered as themselves but rather numbers - “Sepulchre of crime”
