The World Is Too Much With Us And The Unknown Citizen

Poems consist of a variation of different techniques in order to convey a message or idea to readers. Wilfred Owen, Thomas Hardy, Adrienne Rich, Bruce Dawe and Robert Browning are great poets who explore these issues, conveying their emotions, which influences a perception of an issue. In each of their poems they express the hidden message of hope, along with their main message. They use similar techniques to express their ideas, which illustrates their purpose to the reader.

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).

One of the ways in which poets present the ideas of patriotism is in the loss of hope as the war progresses, which patriotism helps to could help overcome in one war, but not another. For example, the soldiers don’t lose hope despite the mistake made by one of the commanders in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ due to their patriotic views as seen through the words: ‘Theirs but to do and die’ … ‘Into the Valley of Death’. The words ‘but to do and die’ suggest that the soldiers were so patriotic

In William Wordsworth's sonnet "The World Is Too Much with Us" the speaker conveys his frustration about the state in which he sees the world. Throughout the poem the speaker emphatically states his dissatisfaction with how out of touch the world has become with nature. Typical of Italian sonnets, the first eight lines of the poem establish the problems the speaker is experiencing such discontent about. Subsequently, the next line reveals a change in tone where the speaker angrily responds to the cynicism and decadence of society. Finally, the speaker offers an impossible solution to the troubles he has identified. Through each line, the tone elevates from dissatisfaction to anger in an effort to make the reader sense the significance of

According to Jay Parini, the poet has a clear obligation to observe the “present manifestation” of the human condition in all its forms. While others may have the luxury, the permission or otherwise predilection to represent humanity differently, the poet is not so easily detached. The poet, and the poetic process, as it were, must be firmly tethered to reality, capturing all that is wrong and right, bad and good, false and true, in the shades of that reality. No periods of human history may be more inescapable to the poet than those of war.

First the explanation of the poem would be the starting ground into really analyzing what this is about. Do Not Go Gentle

These different views portray the idle ad infertile state of human society. Stanza I begin with the description of a cold winter evening and the routine scenario such as ‘burnt-out ends of smoky days’ (line 4), ‘the grimy scrapes’ (line 6), ‘withered leaves’ (line 7), ‘newspapers from vacant lots’ (line 8), through a third person omniscient point of view. All these description of the day and the street tells of something that is dark, uncheerful and even still. These lines suggest the mundane scenario of a society that has lost all its charms and liveliness. Then the point of view shifts to the second person ‘You’. The third stanza gives a picture of a person who waits for someone else to come to a lonely bed with hopes of something unreal. This has the suggestions to human lives where people wait for things to become better and in the hope lose grip of their own lives. The lines 33-34, “you have such a vision of the street as the street hardly understands” gives the reader the picture that the person on the bed dreamt of the street of the street as it actually never will be, implying to hopes the human, as an individual, has of how the society should be. Not cold, distorted and dead but lively, closely knit and warm with emotions. It indirectly shows of how distorted human society had become as an effect of the damage humans inflict on each other thus making the society a waste land. The

As Wordsworth highly values nature, he also believes society is flawed and that society is corrupting nature as well as its natural beauty. Wordsworth suggests that people need to connect to nature and those who part from nature will be “out of tune” (8). “I discovered more distinctly the black sides of Jura and the bright summit of Mont Blac . . . the sky and late are blue and placid.” (Shelley 78)

William Wordsworth's poem The world is too much with us is a statement about conflict between nature and humanity. The symbolism in his poem illustrates a sense of the conviction and deep feelings Wordsworth had toward nature. He longs for a much simpler time when the progress of humanity was tempered by the restriction nature imposed. Wordsworth is saying in this poem that man is wasting his time on earth by not appreciating nature around him. He is looking but not beholding. "We have given our hearts away" (4) means that we have sold the part of us that is from the earth (man which is from dust) in order to make other things more important than appreciating life; such as, money or

The poem’s underlying themes of an apathetic society can also be connected to this idea of criticizing the mundane cycles a

These two poems are written by poets with completely different social statuses. This differing factor leads to two completely different perspectives on the

The poem is written from the first person point of view as it mirrors the poet's personal experience. It begins with a sense of resentment as his nationality is altered and a new identity is imposed upon him. Not only the occupation insists on denying his existence but also it mocks on his wounds by changing him into a mere photo in an exhibit for tourists. Yet, he strongly feels that these papers can never show the depth of attachment between him and his native land. What the colonialism doesn't really recognize is that the historical, natural and cultural bond is innate as nobody can wipe it out by some

“Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.” Poetry throughout the ages has influenced change in society and given voice to controversial topics. Wilfred Owen influenced his nation and became a powerful and significant agent of change through his literature as he demonstrated throughout his poetry how war is not something to be glorified yet is a horrific injustice suffered by many. By analysing Dulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem Of The Doomed it can be said that Owen’s significant message is to confront the idea of glorifying war and the patriotic sentiment of trench warfare.

     In the final lines of the poem Auden uses irony to show the government’s role in creating a certain society. In Auden’s eyes the government considers a working-class income, good credit, and a sense of national loyalty and social duties to be the only things necessary to make one’s life complete. He seems to feel that, by insisting on material wealth, society has given government an opportunity to control its actions by creating a world in which a “desirable” lifestyle can only be obtained by adhering to a strict set of ideals and philosophies. The poem can also be viewed as a spoof on certain aspects of the typical middle-class lifestyle. It mocks what many feel are necessities of modern life and points out man’s lack of true feeling for himself and others. But, most importantly, it paints a picture of a world in which people are willing to give up their personal dreams,

Among his “praises,” for example: “When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went” (24). In this, it becomes clear to the reader that you do not want to be an average citizen; you do not want this to be your elegy. Some critics argue this, however, as Auden stating that there is nothing disgraceful in being unknown. The poem is, above all, a satire of the way conformity hinders the individual and leaves ridiculous and solely external distinctions between human beings.