Compare ‘Men who march away’ and ‘All the Hills and Vales along’
Both poets present a differing attitude to war through literary techniques. Hardy presents a very jingoistic, patriotic attitude to war through his use of language and repetition. Whereas, Charles Sorely uses a less patriotic tone and focuses more on war being very negative through his use of language, biblical imagery and structure.
Firstly, both poems are similar in that they both have a strict rhythm. In ‘Men who march away’, the poem has five seven line stanzas which each stick to the same rhyme scheme: ABBBAAB. He also uses alliteration often to create a steady rhythm (e.g ‘men who march’). Arguably, the obvious reason for this would be to create the rhythm of
…show more content…
It’s a good thing because you’re committing yourself to history. Jesus is mentioned in the next stanza, the ‘Earth blossomed and was glad’ beneath his cross. This further compares soldiers to Christ and glorifies death. ‘Blossomed’ suggests something new grew and more beautiful grew from his death, just like it would if a soldier sacrificed his life. However, this is also ironic as Jesus’ sacrifice was to save humanity of their sins. The soldier would’ve been contributing to mass murder, which is a massive sin.
In contrast to this, Hardy uses a much less obvious but still powerful religious reference. He talks about the ‘faith and fire within us’ and repeats this. The repetition of it highlights the prominence of religion at the time to every man and the fact that it was a massive part in them fighting the war. Moreover, it highlights the fact that men thought God would guide them, all they needed was ‘the faith and fire’ to see them through the war. However, on a non religious level, it might also highlight the fact that men thought the war would end. They had faith that they were going to war for a just cause and that they would pull through. As it was written before the worst of the war, this is genuinely what men believed.
It’s interesting that both poets use religion to inspire and insight something deep within soldiers as religion was massively important and influential. However, they do it in different ways. Hardy reminds the men that their
In the second stanza the distinctive experience of power is present. The use of the technique of imagery and emotive words “to pluck them from the shallows and bury them in burrows’ tells us that the soldiers were strong, loyal and had enough power within a degree to assist fellow soldiers. The use of personification to create sound “sob and clubbing of the gunfire” This leads the audience to understand what the soldiers were up against without even directly saying it. The imagery visually shows the scene in their
The war poetry I am going to compare was written by Wilfred Owen and Thomas Hardy. Wilfred Owen was born in Wales in 1893. He wrote poetry as a teenager and at the age of 20 he began teaching English in France as an assistance teacher. 2 years later he joined the Manchester regiment and fought in World War 1 and 3 years later in 1918 he died near the Belgian border whilst taking his men across the Sambre canal at Ors. Therefore we know his writing shows his personal experiences.rdy was born in 1840 in the south of England. He began writing in 1867. He was more famous for his novels but also wrote about the Boer war.
The theme of seeking peace, yet only finding war flows through the first part of the verse with painful variations drawn from browbeaten living. With a sense of whiplash, after expecting more verbal imagery of enslavement and persecution, the vocalist gains confidence as he reveals his personal war machine at the end of the verse. Maybe the vocalist mirrors a description of Walter Raushcenbusch’s social gospel. “Audiences who are estranged from the Church and who would listen to theological terminology with frank scorn, will listen with absorbed interest to religious thought when it is linked with their own social problems.” Maybe those “shackled in the chains of international gain” as well as allies hearing these lyrics will heed the message within, as it comes from the streets rather than someone without experience and no
In addition to his manipulation of idiom, Hardy chose specific and concrete words to place within The Man He Killed. By selecting precise words, which are informal, he achieved an instant emotional reaction to the meaning of the poem. "I shot at him as he at me," is a line that creates a vivid picture in one's mind of two individuals shooting at each other. The exactness of the last stanza sends a chill through the reader: "Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow down You'd treat if met where any bar is, Or help to half-a-crown." The chill established creates a realization that war does actually change friend to a foe. Overall, the use of casual specific words for diction, allows the general meaning and impact to be greatly amplified.
Arguably the greatest contribution to the eventual downfall of the Roman Republic was the institution of Gaius Marius' popular, yet dangerous reforms, and his repeated usage of questionable political tactics to achieve his underlying personal goals. By undermining the power of the senate through illegal political conduct, and by introducing reforms that created the open potential for abuse of military power, Marius paved the way for future military monarchies, civil conflict and the eventual downfall and segregation of the Roman Republic.
The similar theme is that war changes people and tears them apart due to the pain and suffering of the war. “Cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody”(O’Flaherty 208). The quote helps show that the war may cause you to curse things you never would've before, like, yourself. And from the poem “He thought he’d list perhaps/ Off hand like just as I/ Was out of work, had sold his traps/ No other reason why”(Hardy 16-20). This tells how war can force people to make erratic decisions, it changes your attitude and morals about any situation including joining the army and going to war. The difference between the two stories is that in “The Sniper” it turns him against his family and in “The Man He Killed” it turned the soldier against his friends. To prove this, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face”(O’Flaherty, page 208). Again this tells of the shock the sniper received when he saw it was his brother he had killed. But in the opposing story “Yes, quaint and curious war is!/ You shoot a fellow down/ You’d treat if met where any bar is/ Or help to half-a-crown”(Hardy 17-20). It explains of how he killed a man that the soldier would have befriended in any other situation. All in all, you can see both the similarities and differences in both stories
The poems I have chosen to compare in this essay are Wilfred Owen's “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and Jessie Pope's “Who's For The Game?”. The two poems I have chosen to compare are both about the first world war. Yet the two poems have very different opinions on the Great War. My first poem, Dulce et decorum, is against the war and the injustice of it all. It is narrated by one of the soldiers who is fighting in the Great War and having to face the horrors of war. On the contrary my second poem, Who's for the game, is a recruitment poem.
As for the meter, it reminds Iambic Pentameter. Though, the conventional rhythm is broken by the author’s punctuation (exclamation points and commas as well as periods and dashes). Due to this device the poem comes closer to prose and sounds conversational. It was probably used to avoid song music mood and to give as much contrast as possible to the heroic poems of other authors like Richard Lovelace. If in Lovelace’s case the poem is to inspire the reader, in Owen’s work the rhythm is like a war, like death itself – hard, stumbling, hopeless, fumbling, and full of suffer. The reader suffers while overcoming all those hyphens and points inside lines. In this way, the two poems are on the opposite sides by their inner and outer sense.
War is a scandalous topic where peoples’ views differ as to what war is. Some people see it as pure evil and wicked while others think that it is brave and noble of what soldiers do. Looking at poems which had been written by people affected by war help show the messages which are portrayed. The two sets of poems which show different views of war as well as some similarities are “the Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, “The Song of the Mud” by Mary Borden. Both these poets use linguistic devices to convince the reader of their view of what the war is. Tennyson and Lovelace show how war is worthy
One similarity between the two poems is that they both have titles which express positive feelings about war. However, the titles are both used in different ways; 'Who's for the game?' is an extended metaphor, as it is repeated again during the poem, ‘Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played…’
The poems “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Dulce ET Decorum EST” are war poems. They reflect on two different but equally harrowing events, however the poets portray these events using their own style and the and result is two entirely different views of war.
In the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, it is very tragic and full of anti-war thoughts. In “Who’s for the Game?” by Jessie Pope, the author is pro-war because she talks about feeling the rush in war. The poems are very different from each other and both have a lot of good points. The mood and tone are very different and the author's ideas differ. They are both going to give you a different side on the war, weather you should or shouldn't go to war.
The themes of the two poems are portrayed in very distinctive ways. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ explains in a majestic approach, that fighting in war is something every soldier should honour. The poem is
Compare and contrast “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Charge Of The Light Brigade”. What images of war do these two poems convey?
In this poem, ‘The Man He Killed’, the poet Thomas Hardy explores a complex theme, which is war, using the simplest language. Throughout this essay I will be discussing the thoughts and opinions Hardy has on war.