Analysis Of The Poem ' Siegfried Sassoon '

Literature and poetry are a reflection of society. The words are reflected in numerous feelings that we can almost touch and can be deeply felt in its reach. Most poets expressed their perception and emotion through their writings. Unfortunately the art and poetry describes one of the worst things that human can do to one another. The legalized murder called "war." Hence, this type of self-reflection called "poetry" has help create new fundamental ideas and values towards our society. In this essay, I will discuss the issue of the "War Poetry" during the "Great War" along with comparing and contrasting two talented renowned poets; Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) and Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967).

War, a slaughter of mankind that has gone on for hundreds and thousands of years. One of the most gruesome wars was WW1 which lasted for 4 years from 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918. In this devastating war, the total number of casualties includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. Many of those soldiers were young men. The poem “Suicide in the trenches” written by Siegfried Sassoon describes the harsh experiences in the trenches and how many soldiers became depressed. Sassoon was an officer who earned a military cross after carrying a wounded soldier through enemy’s crossfire. He fought in many battles until 1917 when he was hospitalised due to Shellshock. Sassoon criticized the political leaders who sent young men off to die in huge battles that seemed pointless, and while Sassoon was in Hospital he opposed the war by writing many poems, including “Does it Matter”, “The Hero’ and arguably the most tragic poem, “Suicide in the Trenches”.

In order to fully understand and appreciate great poetry, one must be acquainted with the poet. Wilfred Owen was born in Shropshire, England. After being educated at the Technical School in Shrewsbury, he later taught in France at the Berlitz School of English. It was in France where Owen became interested in World War I. In 1915, Owen enlisted in the army, unaware of the effects it would later have on his psychological state and overall well-being. After suffering battle wounds during combat in 1917, Owen was diagnosed with shell shock--more commonly known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, war had made yet another victim of Owen. However, from the misfortune came a silver lining. As he resided in the Craiglockhart War Hospital, he met a poet by the name of Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon pulled Owen deep into the world of literature, showing him acclaimed works and "...well-known literary figures such as Robert Graves and H.G. Wells"

Imagine reading a poem and believing it means one thing, but the underlying message is something completely different. Authors like to use different literary techniques to make a valid point, to make the reader feel a certain emotion, or even to share a distinct memory with their reader. Poetry has helped authors focus their readers on their work by achieving themes that may portrayed in several pieces of their work. In May Swenson’s case, she used a variety of techniques to create different emotions for the reader, while expressing certain periods of her life. May Swenson uses nature in her poetry to personify sexuality and make it into a repetitive theme in her work. Many of Swenson’s critics can agree

Many war pieces express a distinct sense of truth, hatred, and anger that can be found in the style, tone, and imagery they possess. Incredible images are created in ones mind as war writings are read and heard. Works written by such writers as Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Tim OBrien really reach out to the audience by way of the authors choice of words and images that they use in their writing. These talented writers create very touching and heart-felt images as they write about the true occurrences, problems, feelings and emotions that soldiers encountered throughout times of war. It is by way of these

Suicide in the trenches were very common in World War I. Many depressed, or physically exhausted soldiers would resort to suicide to end their struggles. Siegfried Sassoon, a war veteran and English poet, wrote ‘Suicide in the Trenches,’ in an attempt to “avoid sentimentality and self-pity while describing the realities of war.” Published in February, 1918, he writes:

The first of Sassoon poems “In an Underground Dressing Station” is about the pain and suffering there was during the time. There is a reason the author did not specify what country this man belonged to. This poem was about one person, but no matter what country they were fighting for, so many people went through this pain. The next poem “Battalion-Relief” also showed how even in these beautiful towns, they faced the terror of artillery and heard distant gun fire everywhere they marched. The soldiers were stuck in this extended nightmare with nothing to do but following order to their almost inevitable demise.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

Thousands of young Europeans went to serve their country (draft) during the first world war and were met with death and destruction. In addition to having to witness comrades and friends being killed, they had to kill others which will undoubtedly change someone. It takes away your innocence to have to do and see things such as this. For those that survived these images haunted them for the rest of their lives changing their outlook on life and general disposition. Which such a large percent of the population having had such damaging effects it takes a toll on the entirety of Europe. Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet who fought during WWI, recounts his experience and the damaging effects of war. In Sassoon’s Suicide in the Trenches he writes about the effects of the war on the soldiers and the disillusionment people at home had about war. The first stanza of the poem has as cheerful tone. Sassoon writes “I knew a simple soldier boy,” choosing to use the word “boy” instead of man to put an emphasis on how young and youthful these soldiers were. There is a sharp change of tone between the first and second stanza in which Sassoon talks of the hardships of the trenches and has a an emphasis on winter. The boy who was spoken about in the first stanza as

Feeling beautiful deals with many factors but it has become incumbent with focus being placed on the physical aspects of person Una Marson writes about beauty and how it drives many women into changing their features and making those features fit into the standard of beauty. Her poem, “Kinky Haired Blues” speaks about that notion, of women wanting to assimilate to what the norm is. Specifically women of ethnic minorities, she talks more about Black Women and the pressure for them to bleach their skin and to iron their hair. Matters such as race are at forefront of the issues in her society and of the society we currently live in today. Una Marson’s poem “Kinky Hair Blues” speaks to the idea of beauty and the standard of beauty. And how many

"Confusion, Anxiety, Anger and Pain, Despair" these are some of the words that Kaunie Hagensen uses to describe her condition in the poem Lost. (Hagensen 1999) These feelings are shared by many people today who suffer from, or have family members who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. The Encyclopedia of Alzheimer's Disease describes it as being, "a progressive degenerative disease characterized by the death of nerve cells in several areas of the brain. While the most obvious symptom is loss of memory, the disease also causes problems with emotional control, vision, and language." (Turkington 2003, 14) "Alzheimer's disease" has previously been used to describe dementia arising in middle age, but because of the neuropathological

The specific works I am intending to analyze is Siegfried Sassoon’s WWI poetry “They”, “The Rear-Guard’, “The General”, and “Glory of Women”. The argument I will make about these works is Sassoon’s public protest to show the realities of war and explain his tactics on doing so. Sassoon “attack[ed] the old men of the army, Church, and the government” because he believed they were responsible for the miseries and murders of the young soldiers during WWI. I intent to make the argument both cultural and historical. Example ideas or paragraphs for this paper include the poems “They” and “The Rear-Guard” play a role in the protest by illustrating the damaging aftermath of injury or death. These poems also portrays what it was like during the war

The poet Siegfried Sassoon saw that war was destructive and it should not happen because it was a waste of human life, Sassoon described the horror of war unsparingly, also, his poems were often based on actual incidents. Wilfred Owen focused his poetry on the particulars of war and the men involved: dirt, muddle, boredom etc, Owen often wrote about the horror of war and the dignity of men. He deeply felt a sense of the appalling wastefulness of war, casualties and the human spirit. The similarities between these two poets are they both tried to record realistic horrors of the war; to have it stopped. They were both angry at the war’s brutality, they were also showed very compassionate studies of the circumstances of fighting men.

War, a slaughter of men that has gone on for hundreds & thousands of years. One of the most gruesome wars was WW1 which lasted for 4 years, 28 Jul. 1914 – 11 Nov. 1918. In this devastating war, the total number of casualties includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. Many of those soldiers were young men. The poem “Suicide in the trenches” written by Siegfried Sassoon tells what the harsh trenches had being like and how many soldiers became depressed. Sassoon was an officer who earned a military cross after carrying a wounded solider through enemy’s crossfire. He fought in many battles till 1917 where he would then have to leave the war due to Shellshock. Sassoon criticized the political leaders who sent young men off to die in huge battles that seemed pointless and while Sassoon was in Hospital he opposed the war by writing many poems including “Does it Matter”, “The Hero’ and arguably the most tragic poem, “Suicide in the Trenches”.

This essay examines the effects that poetry has on society, both socially and politically. Poetry has been around for centuries, and it is a common misconception that it serves no purpose. One critic in particular, W.H Auden claimed, “poetry makes nothing happen”. However poetry awakens the reader’s eyes and gives an insight to the society in which we live in today, and which has been before us. As evident in Ezra Pound’s work, as he explored the use of imagism to critique modernism and twentieth century, forcing the readers to think more about society as a whole. The purpose of this essay is to show that poetry does make something happen and can have instrumental effects on society, whether it is a poet critiquing society, or simply providing another interpretation. Poetry is a code than needs to be cracked, it is a riddle that makes the reader bring out their true creativity, which is why I disagree with W.H Auden in saying, “poetry makes nothing happen.”