Analysis of War Poems by Brooke, Owen & Sassoon: Patriotism, Reality & Horrors, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Analysis of War Poems by Brooke, Owen & Sassoon: Patriotism, Reality & Horrors e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE WAR POETS / analysis of 3 poems by Brooke, Owen and Sassoon THE SOLDIER / RUPERT BROOKE - Classic Petrarchan sonnet made up of 3 quart rains and 1 sestet - Written during the first part of the War and it expresses the strong sense of patriotism and patriotism that the English felt when the war broke out - Will to defend their country in the face of the enemy - For this reason Brooke gives us an abstract, idealistic view of the world with no hint to the actual horrors that happened during the War The Soldier can be considered as an elegy to sacrifice It idealizes and justifies man’s sacrifice in war and interprets death in combat as something that will bring him glory —> Death for one’s country is seen as a noble cause to die for and he sees giving his life to his country as a way to pay England back for everything that it has given him He is proud of being English and he emphasizes the beauty of his country by using images such as flowers, rivers, suns of home, and also the qualities of the English, which according to him are gentleness and laughter so in this poem we can still see a sentimental attitude that will disappear in the works of the poets who have witnessed the horrors of the war. DOLCE ET DECORUM EST / WILFRED OWEN The poem is based on Owen’s experience of the horrors of the war in the trenches and it is an attempt to communicate the pity of the war to future generations. The title is a quotation to the Latin poet Horace, which means “it is sweet and honorable” which gives a taste of tragic irony to this elegy since Owen portrays the real face of war, which implies degradation and death so he refuses Brooke’s idea of war as glorious and noble. 1st STANZA —> The soldiers are retreating into trenches, bent like old beggars and coughing like hags. They are exhausted, struggling through the mud. Many of them have lost their boots or they are bleeding but they have to go on, almost deafened, blinded and drunk with fatigue 2st STANZA —> Describes a gas attack The soldiers are trying to put on their masks as soon as possible but the poet’s friend is yelling and stumbling and he is killed by the gas which drowns him like a “green sea”. The sight of the poet’s friend choking on gas almost haunts him in his dreams, in which he sees him plunging at him. 3rd STANZA —> Once again he recalls his friend’s death, saying that he looked like a “devil’s sick of sin” with his lungs corrupted from the gas And he conveys with a last powerful phrase the horrors of the war when he says that the glorification of the war, according to which dying for one’s