English Poetry during World War I
• What do you think the response to war was in
England, as much in other European countries?
• It was enthusiastic because a lot of volunteers
enrolled in the armed forces.
• Some driven by a wish for glory and adventure,
but most by genuine patriotism. World War One
Movies
• But after a few months the original enthusiasm
disappeared and was replaced by discomfort and
disillusionment.
English Poetry during World War I
• The heavy number of casualties made
conscription necessary.
• World War I also brought to an end the
illusion that problems could be solved
peacefully.
• No war before or since then has had such a
shattering impact on the British population.
The War Poets
• In England it was first of all the voice of the
young poets, called War Poets, that first
denounced what trench life or death by gas were
like.
• What was the early response to the war?
• It was a sort of deep romantic sense of patriotic
duty, as the war went on the attitude changed and
the poets turned to a more realistic sort of poetry,
inspired by personal experiences of small and
great tragedies of thousands of unknown people.
The War Poets
• How to translate experience of war into
poetry?
• Obviously, since the experience of war was
so tragic and devastating, war poets had to
find a way to translate into poetry what they
had experienced, or in some case were
experiencing.
The War Poets
• As they realized what the war was really about,
poets abandoned the romantic vocabulary they had
previously used and felt the need for new means
of expression
• new rhythms and new styles that could better
mirror the harsh reality of war.
• They couldn’t have possibly relied on Georgian
poetry, which was written in smooth rhythms and
favoured English subjects, idealized rural England
and avoided contemporary subjects.
The War Poets
• The War Poets (Rupert Brooke, Owen
Seaman, Sigfrid Sasson, Wilfred Owen)
shared the same experiences.
• but focused on different aspects of the war
and used different means of expression.
The War Poets – Rupert Brooke
• His war sonnets were written in
the first flush of patriotism and
enthusiasm as a generation
unused to war rushed to defend
king and country.
•If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware….
(from war sonnets- sonnet V. the soldier)
The War Poets – Owen Seaman
• Another example of patriotism is shown by
the following lines written by O. Seaman
• England, in this great fight to which you go
Because, where Honour calls you, go you must,
Be glad, whatever comes, at least to know
You have your quarrel just.
The War Poets - Sigfrid Sasson
• Sassoon’s poems are a
combination of pity and irony
• Look at his poem – Base Details
IF I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
I’d live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
You’d see me with my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honour. ‘Poor young chap,’
I’d say—‘I used to know his father well;
Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.’
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I’d toddle safely home and die in bed.
The War Poets - Sigfrid Sasson
• The irony here is in the comfortable life of the
commanders – the Majors – who monitor the war
from the luxury of hotel rooms, reading with
indifference the list of dead soldiers who have
died in the battlefield.
• They will not die in the battlefields of Flanders,
but securely in their beds, long after the war has
ended.
The War Poets – Wilfred Owen
• Owen portrayed the idea of
war as a cause of physical
and spiritual mutilation and
used understatements to
bring a certain deal of
harshness into his poetry.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
By
W. Owen
Biography
'My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.
Yet these elegies are to this generation in no sense consolatory. They
may be to the next. All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the
true Poets must be truthful.'
Biography
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Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was born 18 March 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire. After
his school days he took a four-year course as a pupil-teacher. Then in 1913, he spent two
years in France, as a language tutor.
War was declared in August 1914 and in 1915 Wilfred wrote to his mother, 'I don't want
to wear khaki ... But I now do most intensely want to fight.' In October he volunteered
and was sworn into the Artists' Rifles. Eight months later he was commissioned as
second lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, and in December 1916 he left for the
Western Front.
After a last luxurious night in a Folkestone hotel, Owen was quickly plunged into the
realities of active service, and suffered the horrors described - only three weeks later - in
a vivid letter to his mother.
In May 1917, Owen was diagnosed with shell-shock, and he was sent to Craiglockhart
War Hospital, near Edinburgh, in June. Here he met Siegfried Sassoon. On 22
September of that year Owen sent a final version of his poem 'The Sentry' - as heard
here in audio extracts - to Sassoon, who made sure that it was eventually published.
Wilfred Owen was awarded the Military Cross following his actions on 1-2 October
1918 at Joncourt on the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme Line. Confirmation of the award came
after his death.
Background
• Since ancient times it has been considered heroic
to die in war.
• Homer’s epic poem The Illiad celebrates, among
other things, the nobility of dying on the
battlefield.
• This view continued well into the 19th Century
(and even the 20th Century), and Tennyson’s
popular poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
gives us an idea of how poets and people in
general thought about the “valour” of fighting and
dying for one’s country:
Background
• Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder’d.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred
Background
• These lines by Tennyson may be well
written and rousing, but they are not very
realistic.
• The poets of the First World War changed
all that with their efforts to give us an
accurate representation of trench warfare.
Dulce Et Decorum Est
• Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
• Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we
cursed through sludge,
• Till on the haunting flares we turned our
backs
• And towards our distant rest began to
trudge.
• Men marched asleep. Many had lost their
boots
• But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame;
all blind;
• Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
• Of tired, outstripped Five_Nines that
dropped behind.
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GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
• In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
• He plunges at me, guttering, choking,
drowning.
• If in some smothering dreams you too could
pace
• Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
• And watch the white eyes writhing in his
face,
• His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
• If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
• Come gargling from the froth-corrupted
lungs,
• Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
• Of vile, incurable sores on innocent
tongues,
• My friend, you would not tell with such
high zest
• To children ardent for some desperate glory,
• The old Lie:
• Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
Theme
• The theme of ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is that
• there is neither nobility in war, nor
honour in fighting for your country.
• Instead there is tragedy, futility and waste
of human life.
Theme
• Wilfred Owen fought in some of the major
battles of World War I and the reality and
horror of war shocked him.
• In the face of the desperate suffering he
saw around him, it was no longer possible
to pretend warfare was adventurous and
heroic.
Theme
• Instead Owen recorded in his poetry
how shocking modern warfare was and
he sought to describe accurately what
the conditions were like for soldiers at
the Front:
Listen
• Bent-double, like old beggers under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through
sludge,
Theme
• Owen wanted people who were not in the trenches
– the people at home in England – to see the
reality and misery of war.
• He also wanted them to stop telling future
generations the “old lie” Dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori (“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s
country.”).
• It is worth noting that these lines were written by
the poet Horace, two thousand years earlier.
Imagery
• ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is built around three
powerful and disturbing images.
Imagery
• The first in the opening stanza:
• a group of soldiers moves through noman’s land in an attempt to get back to the
relative safety of the trenches.
• Why do you think he does so?
Imagery
• Owen wants us to imagine what it was like
in these trenches; to see the detail
• (“many had lost their boots”)
• and reality of dying in such a place.
• Q. What words does Owen use to describe
the conditions of the men?
Imagery
• Look carefully at the words Owen uses to
describe the condition of the men:
• “asleep”, “lost”, “limped”, “blood-shod”,
“lame”, “blind”.
• Men marched asleep. Many had lost their
boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went
lame; all blind;
Imagery
• The second image (found in the second
stanza) is more dramatic.
• Notice how the first words of the stanza
change the pace of the poem, making it
more urgent as the soldiers come under
attack and try to put on their gas masks
before they choke:
Imagery
• Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of
fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
• The poet manages to get his mask on. After
the sudden activity of the men.
• the last two lines of this stanza change pace
again
Imagery
• They have an almost dreamlike quality as
the poet watches from behind his gas mask.
• As the thick green smoke washes over the
men, the poet uses a striking simile of the
sea to describe the gas.
• But one man fumbles with his mask and is
overcome by the fumes and “drowns” in the
sea of thick smoke:
Graphic imagery
• The troops were torn out of their nightmarish
walk and surrounded by gas bombs.
• How everyone, in "an ecstasy of fumbling"
was forced to run out into the mist, unaware
of their fate.
• The graphic images displayed here are
profoundly affecting and can never be
forgotten.
Imagery
• Dim, through the misty panes and thick
green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
Imagery
• The dream quality of this stanza gives way,
in the third and final image
• A picture of the dead man as his body is put
on a wagon filled with the bodies of other
dead soldiers:
Imagery
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His hanging face like a devil’s sick of sin;
…Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent
tongues.
Imagery
• Although young men went to war with the
promise of glory and comradeship, in these
lines the poet presents us with the awful
truth about war and conflict:
• Q. What is the truth?
• that it is a brutal waste of life that causes
unspeakable human misery and corruption.
ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE
• ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is a poem filled with
powerful and harsh music.
• In the opening lines the poet uses alliteration
(words starting with the same consonant sound)
• What do you think is the effect of such a device?
• to emphasize the tiredness of the soldiers as they
walk through the sludge. (thick soft mud)
ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE
• Listen carefully to the lines to see how the
alliteration gives the poem a slow and heavy
rhythm:
• Bent double, like old beggers under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed
through sludge
Rhyme
• In the second stanza the soldiers are
attacked and the pace of the poem speeds up
as the soldiers try to put on their gas masks:
Rhyme
• Gas! GAS! Quick boys! – An ecstasy of
fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
• But someone still was yelling out and
stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime . .
Rhyme
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What kind of rhymes does the poet use?
internal rhyme
(fumbling / clumsy; stumbling /
flound’ring)
• end rhyme (time, lime)
• Why do you think he does so?
Rhyme
• This use of rhyme gives the poem a change of
tempo;
• it also conveys the confusion and panic of the
soldiers as they scramble to put on their masks.
• Look for other examples in the poem where the
poet uses rhyme, half rhyme and alliteration. See
how these devices are used to change the pace and
rhythm of the poem.
Tone
• What is the tone of the poem?
• ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is a very dramatic
poem. It shows us, like no poem before it,
the terrible waste of life during World War
I.
• The tone of the poem is desperate, shocked
and angry.
Metaphors and similes
• people use metaphors because they say
"...what we want to say more
vividly and forcefully..."
• Owen capitalizes greatly on this by using
strong metaphors and similes .
Metaphors and similes
• Right off in the first line, he
describes the troops as being "like old
beggars under sacks."
• This not only says that they are tired,
but that they are so tired they
have been brought down to the level of
beggars who have not slept in a
bed for weeks on end.
Metaphors and similes
• Owen also compares the victim's face to the
devil, seeming corrupted and baneful.
• His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin.
• A metaphor even more effective is one that
compares "...vile, incurable sores..." with
the memories of the troops.
Metaphors and similes
• It not only tells the reader how the troops
will never forget the experience, but also
how they are frightening tales.
• The troops will never be able to tell without
remembering the extremely painful
experience.
Glossary
• knock-kneed having knees that point inwards slightly
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• sludge soft thick mud
• Hag: an ugly or unpleasant old woman - like a witch
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• Curse to say or think bad things about someone or something because they have made
you angry
• Haunting flares: “segnale luminoso”
• Trudge:to walk with slow, heavy steps, especially because you are tired
• blood-shod: “calzando sangue” – wearing shoes of blood
• Lame:unable to walk normally because of an enjury or tiredness
Glossary
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Hoots: sounds e.g. made by the dropping bombs –
Fumbling: to hold or try and move something with your hands carelessly.
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Clumsy:a clumsy object is not easy to use and is often large and heavy
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Stumbling:to walk unsteadily and often almost fall.
Floundering: unable to decide what to say or do so that you find it difficult to continue
Lime: “calce”
Dim: fairly dark or not giving much light
Plunge: to move, fall forwards or backwards
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Guttering: “struggendosi”
Choking: beaing unable to breath
• Flung: (v.fling) to trow something violently or angrily
Glossary
• Writhing: moving continually because of great pain
• like a devil's sick of sin: “come un diavolo stanco del
peccato”
• Jolt: a sudden or violent movement
• gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs: “Che sale
gorgogliando dai polmoni distrutti”
• bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent
tongues:
“amaro come fiele di disgustose, incurabili piaghe su
lingue innocenti”
• Zest:enthusiasm
Cud = bolo alimentare dei ruminanti
Italian Translation
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Piegati in due, come vecchi mendicanti sotto i sacchi,
Ginocchia piegate all’interno, tossendo come streghe, bestemmiavamo nel fango,
Finchè vedemmò il segnale luminoso e cominciammo a ritornare,
Incominciavamo a trascinarci verso il nostro distante riparo.
Uomini camminavano addormentati. Molti avevano perso le loro scarpe
Ma zoppicavano, vestiti di solo sangue. Tutti erano zoppi; tutti ciechi;
Ubriachi di fatica; spesso troppo sordi per sentire il rumore
Delle bombe a gas che cadevano sofficemente dietro di noi.
Gas! Gas! Veloci, ragazzi! - Un’estasi di gesticolio,
Mettendosi i buffi elmetti appena in tempo;
Ma qualcuno stava ancora gridando e inciampando,
E lottando come uomini nel fuoco o nella calce...
Senza chiarezza, attraverso i vetri appannati e le fitte luci verdi,
Come sotto un mare verde, lo vidi annegare.
In tutti i miei sogni, oltre la mia impotente vista,
Si buttava verso di me, struggendosi, soffocando, affogando.
Se in qualche soffocante sogno anche tu potessi camminare
Dietro il carro su cui lo gettammo,
E guardassi i bianchi occhi roteanti sulla sua faccia,
La sua cascante faccia, come un diavolo stanco dal peccato;
Se tu potessi ascoltare, ad ogni scossone, il sangue
Che sale gorgogliando dai polmoni distrutti dalla schiuma,
Osceno come il cancro, più amaro del fiele
Di disgustose, incurabili piaghe di lingue innocenti,Mio amico, non diresti con un così grande entusiasmo
Ai ragazzi desiderosi di una qualche gloria,
La vecchia bugia: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.