How Does The Context Of Production Influence The Nature Of Poetry?

Good morning and welcome back, to Poetry and Society, lesson 5. In today’s lesson we will be exploring the attitudes and morals portrayed in the poem ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ written by Alfred Lord Tennyson; through the literary devices, themes and form, and how they are relevant to the Crimean War.

The poems, The Charge of The Light Brigade and Dulce et Decorum Est, both deal with an idea of war. The writers both have the same viewpoint about war, but the way that they articulate those ideas on paper varies. Through literary devices in the poems, the authors show two different wars, but the same tragic outcome – death. These two poems showcase how people can have different outlooks on war, but in the end they all end with the same deadly outcome. These writers, Wilfred Owen and Alfred Lord Tennyson, uses tone, metaphor or repetition, and rhyming and diction to present a more concrete version on their perception of war.

The world is a changing place with many different countries and people in those countries who try to change the world from our past, future and present. When looking at poems from the past we are able to see the world through the author’s eyes of the time and possible a view into the future. History tells us to learn from the past to improve the future of our world. A way to learn about the past is by reading poems from a time most of us have no understanding or the imagination to know what it was actually like to survive during time of war. The world is not the same and the fights and battles are not the same as they were in the past. However, we all have the privilege

War is neither wondrous, kind, nor beautiful. War has killed many of our soldiers and innocent everyday people. It puts some in debt, and allows diseases to flourish, but Instead of telling people "War is bad," writers often use the literary devices of imagery, irony, and structure to protest war.

Compare the Presentation of War in the poems ‘Dulce et Decorum est’, by Wilfred Owen and ‘Icarus Allsorts’, by Roger McGough.

Although poetry has existed since time immemorial, as Perrine explains, “Poetry is as universal as language and almost as ancient” (2); establishing a definition that satisfies all aspects of poetry is not simple. Therefore, throughout history many poets and critics have elaborated different definitions to summarize in a few words what poetry is. Poets such as Samuel Taylor, Ralph Waldo, Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost have tried to establish a universal concept of poetry. Each of them has developed a concept of poetry that differs in some respects from each other because every author emphasize the definition only in certain aspects of poetry. However, this essay will explain why the definition proposed by Samuel Taylor is the one that best represents the poems studied in class from the perspective of two uses of language, the practical and the literary. Moreover, this essay will use the poem “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood as an example for supporting Taylor’s definition.

Violence, conflict and bloodshed are used on an enormous scale throughout the poems that I have studied. Today I’m going to explore the theme of conflict in the poems: “A mother in a refugee camp” by Chinua Achebe, “War photographer “by Carol Ann Duffy and “Prayer before birth “by Louis MacNeice. I personally believe the poets succeed remarkably well in portraying how conflict plays an important role in informing the people about the society and how the poet illustrates conflict throughout the poems that affect this society, also I’m going to introduce “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen, “Out, out” Robert Frost and “Refugee Blues” by W.H Auden and describe how conflict plays an important role in these poems as well.

The Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson "The charge of the light brigade" by Tennyson was written about a

Concerning his poems, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s work relies on an extensive thematic scheme. In Tennyson’s poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, a number of themes are present including heroism, honor, patriotism, and loyalty. Put together, Tennyson tells the story of a cavalry brigade facing their destiny head on.

Good afternoon members of the Australian English literature society, I’m so thankful and privileged to be here today. Throughout many centuries, we have seen the devastation and heartache brought into our lives by the continuous negativity and hate surrounding vicious war attacks. Today I am here to give you an insight into the way that poets through history have used war as a meaningful way source of literature to change and influence the lives of others. The poets in which we will be looking at, are Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke.

Poetry has played an important role during wartimes, whether it be to inspire and unify a nation or to memorialise and remember those who fought. Australian poets throughout history such as Banjo Paterson have responded to the events and consequences of war in order to engage their audience to consider the themes of honour and sacrifice which can be seen in his patriotic 1915 poem We’re all Australians now. In contrast, John Schumann and Eric Bogle evoke not only the theme of sacrifice but also the horror and waste of war in their poems I was only 19 and Lost Soul respectively. All three poets effectively employ poetic techniques to highlight their key themes.

War is everywhere, at any time and place. It hardly ever stops and no matter how big or small the matter, it can turn into war. Many men have died in battle, many women have died while helping and many children died caught in the crossfire, but even after all these deaths there is war after war. The glory of going to war and serving your country was the main reason of why many people use to go, they thought it was adventure and would be fun, but in the end they knew it wasn’t what they thought it would be. Some of those people who went to war made poems to show the people back home that war wasn’t as glories as they thought, that it was a horrific nightmare. These poems are still relevant to us, they teach us about what it is like on the battlefield and what they had to deal with. They tell us their struggles and heartbreak.

I am going to look at three poems all from a different perspective and see how they each represent war. Firstly, Dulce Et Decorum Est.

Writing about poetry can be one of the most demanding tasks. It is intellectually challenging since it requires to play close attention to the language. We can elaborate an interesting thesis by rereading, taking notes, annotating the text, and writing down ideas. In order to analyze a poem first we need to enjoy and not worry about the interpretation on a first reading; then, on the next readings we must ask several questions in order to appreciate how the poem works. Some important questions that Meyer points out are: who is the speaker? Is the speaker addressing anyone in particular? How do we respond to the speaker? Is there a specific setting of time and place? What does the title emphasize? Is the theme presented directly or indirectly? Do any allusions enrich the poem’s meaning? How does diction reveal meaning? Are many words repeated? Are figures of speech used? Do any objects, persons, places, events, or actions, have allegorical or symbolic meaning? Is irony used? What is the tone? Does the poem use onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance, or alliteration?

[...]Poetry is characteristically song, and song is characteristically something which, because of its rhythm, is sung in unison, is capable of being the expression of a collective emotion. This is one of the secrets of “heightened” language. [...]Thus poetry, combined with dance, ritual, and music, becomes the great switchboard of the instinctive energy of the tribe, directing it into trains of collective actions whose immediate causes or gratifications are not in the visual field and which are not automatically decided by instinct. (Caudwell, 1937, p.4)