Issue

How do we know what it is like to be in a war zone?

What sources do we have?

What problems do we face if we rely on certain types of sources?

Jessie Pope, ‘Who’s for the Game’

Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played,

The red crashing game of a fight?

Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?

And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?

Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’?

Who’ll give his country a hand?

Who wants a turn to himself in the show?

And who wants a seat in the stand?

Who knows it won’t be a picnic – not much-

Yet eagerly shoulders a gun?

Who would much rather come back with a crutch Than lie low and be out of the fun?

Come along, lads – But you’ll come on all right –

For there’s only one course to pursue,

Your country is up to her neck in a fight,

And she’s looking and calling for you.

Rupert Brooke, The Soldier (1914)

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, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away,A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Trench Life

If you're nearly frozen, they keep quiet: as soon as you warm up those blasted lice start to bite like the devil. It's horrible. I often think it is one of the worst things we have to endure out here.

There are millions!! Some are huge fellows, nearly as big as cats. Several of our men were awakened to find a rat snuggling down under the blanket alongside them!

Going ‘over the top’

It is utterly impossible to describe one's feelings during the hours of waiting for 'zero hour' - the mind is full of wild thoughts and fancies etc which are utterly beyond control. Recollections of friends and dear ones, places we have seen and known and different phases of life all seem to pass in review before one's eyes and one is recalled to the bitter realities of the moment by the officer's voice: 'Fifteen minutes to go, boys, get ready.' Immediately there is a great stir and excitement, a final setting of equipment etc and examination of arms and then a handshake with one or two dear comrades. 6.45 am, 'Over you go, boys,' and we are away on that strange journey across 'No-Man's Land'.

Wilfred Owen

Biography

Born in 1893.

Worked abroad as a language tutor.

Enlisted in 1915.

Western front – 1917.

Shell shock – Sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital.

Siegfried Sassoon.

Returned to France – Died leading men across Sambre canal at Ors.

Meaning and Effect

Once you have identified the techniques used and highlighted the most important words/phrases, you must think about why the poet used this.

What idea/emotion is being expressed?

What effect is created?

What is suggested at this point?

Quotation Technique Comment

‘Bent double’ Imagery Crippled by the heavy load they carry; worn down.

‘like old beggars under sacks’

Simile So worn down they have physically aged. Could be begging for help/rescue.

‘coughing like hags’

Simile Suffering from illness. War has transformed them into something sinister.

‘we cursed through sludge’

Imagery & word choice

Soldiers are angry, yet are determined to continue despite difficult conditions.

Quotation Technique Comment

‘haunting flares’ imagery & word choice

Light cast from flares produced sinister glow. Also hard to forget, frightening.

‘distant rest’ Word choice They soldiers have far to travel before they can relax. They may also feel that rest won’t be possible for a long time.

‘trudge’ Word choice Exhausted, the soldiers walk with heavy feet. They drag themselves onward.

‘Men marched asleep.’

Imagery/word choice

They have become completely mindless, marching automatically. Appear like zombies.

Quotation Technique Comment

‘limped on’ Word choice Carry on despite injuries. Weak and frail.

‘blood-shod’ Metaphor Feet saturated in blood. Introduces idea the men are seen as animals sent to slaughter.

‘All went lame; all blind’

Word choice & repetition

Referring to humans like animals. Repetition emphasizes idea entire army is injured.

‘Drunk with fatigue’

Metaphor So exhausted they are no longer in control.

Quotation Technique Comment

‘tired, outstripped Five-Nines’

Personification Weapons themselves are ineffectual as they do not do their job. Makes the war seem pointless.

Quotation Technique Comment‘Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!’

minor sentences & exclamations

Shows panic in the men, changing the pace of the poem.

‘An ecstasy of fumbling’

Word choice Reflects the intense and confused panic – the men are almost delirious.

‘clumsy helmets’ personification Soldiers seem unprepared to deal with war. Helmets possibly designed badly but shows soldiers are scared.

‘flound’ring like a man in fire or lime’

simile ‘flound’ring’ used to describe wriggling as fish struggle for air. Soldiers become desperate as they suffer intense pain.

Quotation Technique Comment

‘misty panes and thick green light’

Word choice/imagery

Soldiers would struggle to see what was happening through dirty glasses. Air filled with fumes – chlorine.

‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.’

Extended metaphor

Gas would surround and swallow up the soldiers. Soldiers would struggle to breathe and so would choke to death.

Quotation Technique Comment‘helpless sight’ metaphor Intensifies the idea

that the soldier can do nothing but watch. Also reflects the fact he is haunted by the scenes he witnessed but cannot act.

‘plunges at me’ Word choice Seems as though the author feels attacked due to his guilt. Victim desperately pleading for help.

‘guttering, choking, drowning’

Internal rhyme, word choice & list

Reflects stages of suffering, all happening at once. Gas is consuming the soldier.

Quotation Technique Comment‘smothering dreams’

personification These nightmares are over-powering the soldier, killing him with guilt. Reflects the pressure and panic he feels.

‘flung’ Word choice Soldiers no longer emotionally sensitive – trying to get their job done. Shows lack of care/respect.

‘the white eyes writhing in his face’

Imagery In so much pain, eyes out of control almost like they are trying to escape.

‘like a devil’s sick of sin’

Imagery & irony Soldier’s faced would be tight and red; perhaps deformed. Idea of devil sick of sin is used to imply conditions are so horrific even the devil is tired of so much wrong doing.

Quotation Technique Comment‘gargling’ imagery Suggests large

volume of blood has collected in the soldier’s mouth.

‘froth-corrupted lungs’

Word choice Lung tissue has dissolved – soldier’s lungs consumed with froth. Injury taking over.

‘obscene as cancer’

simile Comparison reflects horrible nature of war; that is takes the lives of so many. Their injuries are similarly horrific.

‘bitter as the cud / of vile, incurable sores’

Word choice Again, reflects nature of injuries and how painful it is. Aiming to show war is like a disease.

Quotation Technique Comment‘innocent tongues’ synecdoche Reflects idea that the

soldiers do not deserve this punishment. They have done nothing wrong.

‘desperate glory’ Word choice Those at home eager to believe war is good. They need to hold on to idea that men are dying as heroes in battle.

‘old Lie’ Capital letter, word choice

Blunt – Owen stating this idea is untrue. ‘Old’ suggests it has been told for a long time whilst capital letter gives it a ‘name’ as though it is something well known and accepted.

Group Task

In your group, you should decide what you believe Owen wished to highlight about the following aspects of war.

You should identify the quotations which you feel are the most significant.

Use the quotations to explain how Owen gets his point across – in other words, analyse the quotation.