Monday, March 17, 2008

Reading for 3/18

Rupert Brooke The Soldier

This sonnet does not describe the pain and inhumanity of war as most pieces of literature about war does. The soldier in the poem is naive because he describes England, in the midst of war, as having laughter and peace. The emotions are unrealistic feelings towards war. The feelings are usually not felt by some people who have relatives in war or are involved in it themselves.

Wilfred Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth

This poem is also about war. The first line uses the word "cattle," which in this context stands for young men. These young men have died in battle. Owen uses lots of imagery and descriptive words in this poem. The mood of this poem is very melancholy.

Wilfred Owen Dulce et Decorum Est

This poem describes the negative aspect of war and how it takes a toll on the soldiers. The last lines are very poignant. The soldier tells of the man who wasn't able to get the gas mask on in enough time. I believe he is saying it is better to die for one's country than to be haunted of those images of war.

Siegfried Sassoon Glory of Women

I think Sassoon is saying that the women at home are being naive to the realities of war. They make objects for their loved ones in war to keep hope alive that they are okay. However they aren't, which can be seen in the last lines. Sassoon is stating that while the women are making socks, their sons are getting hurt even more mentally and physically by the war.

Siegfried Sassoon They

I think this poem is very straightfoward. It states that people obviously change once coming back from war because of what they have witnessed. The last line states, ' The ways of God are strange,' which means we cannot understand fully why war happens and we cannot run from what occurs in life.

2 comments:

Monica said...

I didn't really think about the women being naive in Glory of Women. When I read the peom, I thought of it to be quite sad, but this interpretation made me think differently.

derricanne said...

I agree with your ideas on glory of women, that the emotional effects of the war can be damaging for the man who was a soldier but also for the wife.