Analysis of Beach Burial

Thus soldiers used the ANZAC mythology to ignite guilt within the public consciousness. An example of this was the story of the ‘Man in the Bath.’ Published in 1924 in the Sydney Morning Herald the piece depicted the eulogy of Trooper Rolph. The odd placement of the eulogy within mainstream new content demonstrates an active attempt, on behalf of the soldier writing the piece to bring the consciousness of service men’s suffering to the forefront of public discussion. The piece was written by a fellow solider and the article tells the horrific story of the soldier who was ‘flayed alive by barbarous Huns’’. These lines play on the ANZAC myth of the Australian for example the brave Australian hero battling a vicious enemy. The article details Rolph’s return home, as a result of gas poisoning, suffered inflictions that caused daily suffering until in the years leading up to his death. The article written by one of Trooper Rolph’s fellow servicemen uses the graphic imagery of Rolph’s physical afflictions, such as ‘his skin peeled off and refused to grow back’ to elicit concern and a guilty conscious of the public. The discourse relating to veterans suffering is one means soldiers used their role as a powerful symbol to attack the bureaucratic system. Garton argues that this

Dawe is suggesting that the all aspects of War are degrading, brutalising and dehumanising. This is shown by the use of his diction that although acceptable in the scenario where the Sargent is in, it would be rejected by modern civilised society such as “a mob of little yellows”. This is connected to anti-war theme with the whole idea you have to kill the enemy before he gets a chance to kill you. Beach Burial unlike weapons training is not your usual war poem, it isn’t patriotic or condemning war. It is a more realistic tribute to all soldiers, friend or foe, who have been all united by the common enemy of war, death. Both Dawe and Slessor describe to tragic waste of life that occurs in all wars, they share the theme that once soldiers go to war they become a part of a machine and lose their own

The author of “Anthem for Doomed Youth” leads his reader through his personal struggle and frustration of war. Owen has an abrasive approach when describing the death all around him and clearly expresses his anger with the “hasty orisons” for the dead. He speaks directly of battlefront in the first octet and then includes the home front in the second half of his sonnet. Owen’s purpose is not a commemoration of fallen soldiers. Rather, he divulges the disgust and disappointment of war. Like McCrae, Wilfred Owen paints a picture of the multitude of deaths. Back at the home front, “…each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.” We can construe that the author is not simply talking about preparing for bed in the evening, but rather lowering the blinds in a room where yet another dead soldier lies, as an indication to the community and out of respect for the soldier. There is a lack of “passing-bells for these who die as cattle….no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs.” Owen writes as though he feels that there is indifference among the death of his fellow soldiers.

Chapter one, Dying, explained the process of an individual soldier’s death and “the concept of the Good Death.” Following, the second Chapter, Killing, talks about the force of the war on the people who were involved and the how “killing was a battle’s fundamental instrument and purpose.” In Chapters three and four, Burying and Naming, the challenges of establishing names of the dead and giving them an adequate burial is debated. The question, “What should be done with the body,”

In Kenneth Slessor’s 1942 poem ‘Beach Burial’ he also comments about survival in war and the power in distinctively visual ways through particular words. He relies upon adjectives, personification and the use of imagery to describe the suffering.

The poem starts with similar word choices as ‘The Soldier’ but written in the perspective of the mother. The mother tells his son that when he dies he will be in a place of ‘quietness’ and free from the ‘loss and bloodshed’. This reinforces the fact that the battlefield was full of horrors and death. The poem then moves onto how ‘men may rest themselves and dream of nought’ explaining that the soldiers do not have to fear for their lives after their death. This illustrates how they feared for their lives and had negative connotations.

Slessor is without doubt one of Australia’s great poets as his poetry invites us to feel and think about human experience in new ways. He shapes meaning in his poems through the use of sophisticated and appropriate language. Within the poem “Beach Burial” Slessor provides various insights on how the human condition is questioned and allows the reader to experience personal encounters with death, loss and grief that he laments throughout this poem, thereby underlining the futility of war. He also demonstrates the everyday struggles during the Great Depression in Kings Cross within the poem “William Street” during the financial state in the 1930s.

On the first line, Sandburg starts his poem by giving us a disturbing image of the aftermath of war. The line “Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo” tells us how there were many casualties during these two wars. The battle of Austerlitz left more than fifteen thousand casualties not to mention the Battle of Waterloo which left more than twenty-five thousand casualties. Although these wars occurred more than two hundred years ago, it is something still remembered in history, and at the time when all the tragedies occurred we can infer that it left many people grieving for the loss of their loved ones. Wars have always been disastrous, tragic events that end physically and emotionally the lives of many people, including adults and children. Going back to the poem, the grass is the narrator of the poem and by reading the first line we can deduce that it, the grass, tells the remaining soldiers, or the people taking care of the dead bodies, to pile them up because having them spread out across the field would probably would take up a lot of space that could be needed for other soldiers or medics. Now,

This passage helps the reader understand how the emotional burden of uncertain death weighed on the soldier. However, it also acts as a symbol by giving light to the fact that the emotional baggage they carry was brought about by their own fear of humiliation and shame. Many of the soldiers are there only to avoid the persecution that ensued those who evaded the draft. Through the use of symbolism, O’Brien is able to effectively highlight the burdens faced by the soldiers who conformed to the expectations of society.

The poem “Hhomecoming” written by Bruce Dawe in 1968 is about the dead and their neglectful treatment by their living comrades. The poem effects its audience deeply by giving them a view into how the dead soldiers were treated like objects, which comes out through the poem in lines such as ‘...rolling them out of the deep freeze lockers…’ and ‘they’re tagging them…’. The poetic techniques used throughout the poem was repartition by using these poetic technique it gave the reader a deep understanding into how the poem portrays war as terrible, harsh and depressing and the mistreatment of the dead by repeating. By using the simple word ‘they’re’ it gives the audience the understanding that it wasn’t just one person it was many. ‘they’re zipping

Beach Burial, written by Kenneth Slessor, is a poignant elegy that serves as tribute to many soldiers who endured the countless hardships and tragedies of the Battle of El Alamein. Slessor explores an array of themes and ideas, inclusive of loss of life, anonymity, vulnerability and the enemy. Primarily, the poem seeks to explore the malevolent loss of life that some 1234 Australians endured, as well as the improper burial of the soldiers who tragically lost their lives. A main idea explored was that due to the inadequate burial, the soldiers being stripped of the honour and recognition they so deserve. These themes are explored through the techniques of assonance, rhythm, onomatopoeia, and vivid choice of imagery and diction.

An anti-war poem inspired by the events of the Vietnam War, Homecoming inspires us to think about the victims of the war: not only the soldiers who suffered but also the mortuary workers tagging the bodies and the families of those who died in the fighting. The author, Australian poet Bruce Dawe, wrote the poem in response to a news article describing how, at Californian Oaklands Air /Base, at one end of the airport families were farewelling their sons as they left for Vietnam and at the other end the bodies of dead soldiers were being brought home. Additionally, he wrote in response to a photograph, publishes in Newsweek, of American tanks (termed ‘Grants’ in the poem) piled with the bodies of the dead soldiers as they returned to the

I am intrigued by Yale’s eccentric communal environment. Furthermore, the diverse student body creates a fascinating and engaging atmosphere throughout campus. Also, I appreciate the overall ethnic, religious, economic, and geographical diversity because it will expose me to endless perspectives. Aside the diverse campus, the rigor of the academics definitely corresponds to my significant academic interests, specifically in social issues and their effects on all other aspects of a population.

How would you feel to have a father, mother, sister or brother taken away because of the treachery war .Good morning Mrs Naidoo and fellow classmates, today I will be analysing Christopher Wallace-Crabbe’s Australian War poem Other people and how it highlights how it has impacted the reader in offering insights on the Australian context. This poem discuss the futility during the First World War and war in general. I find this poem ‘other people’ is interesting because it foreshadows the darker side to war.

Matthew Arnold is one of the many famous and prolific writers from the nineteenth century. Two of his best known works are entitled Dover Beach and The Buried Life. Although the exact date of composition is unknown, clearly they were both written in the early 1850s. The two poems have in common various characteristics, such as the theme and style. The feelings of the speakers of the poem also resemble each other significantly. The poems are concerned with the thoughts and feelings of humans living in an uncertain world. Even though Arnold wrote Dover Beach and The Buried Life around the same time, the