the war poets of the first world war, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica the war poets of the first world war e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE WAR POETS When the 1st World War broke out, thousands of young men volunteered for military service, regarding the conflict as an adventure. Unfortunately, after the slaughter of many British soldiers at the Battle of Somme in 1916, these proud volunteers starter to have doubts/disillusionment !!! In fact, the loss of human lives + the line of trenches (running from northwestern France to Switzerland)= was terrible!!! l l the rain the mud Life in trenches was hell, because of the decaying bodies , eaten by rats !!! the repeated bombing the use of poison gas From the beginning, the common soldiers improvised verses, songs of the trenches. But these didn’t reach the ears of the literate people comfortably at home !!!!! However, there was a group of young men who experienced the war directly or not, some of them lost their lives in the war. They started writing poems. They wanted to awakened the conscience of the readers to the horrors of the war. They are known as “THE WAR POETS” : Rupert BROOKE Wilfred OWEN Siegfried SASSOON Isaac RESENBERG Rupert BROOKE (1887-1915) He was born in 1887 in a well-to-do/wealthy family. He studied at King’s College, in Cambridge: a good student/athlete popular for his handsome aspect familiar with literary circles/with important political figures He saw little combat during the war since he contracted blood-poisoning and died in 1915, yet he is known as a “war poet” for his 5 war sonnets of “1914”-------he presented war like something clean and cleansing (purificante) he saw “death” after war as a reward he had a sentimental attitude different from the other war poets (who witnessed the horrors of the trenches) l l like a young Romantic hero who talked about patriotism/ideals/sacrifice he died at the age of 28. THE SOLDIER - Rupert Brooke If I shoud die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away. A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dream happy as her day; And daughter, learnt oif friends; and gentleness, In heart at peace, under an English heaven. THE SOLDIER - Rupert Brooke Se dovessi morire, pensa solo questo di me: che c’è qualche angolo del campo straniero che sarà per sempre Inghilterra. Ci dovrebbe essere In quella ricca terra una più ricca polvere nascosta; una polvere di cui l’Inghilterra si fece, si formò, s’informò, diede, una volta, i suoi fiori all’amore, le sue vie al vagabondaggio, un corpo inglese, respirante aria inglese, lavato dai fiumi, benedetto dal sole di casa. E pensa, questo cuore, tolto tutto il male, un battito nella mente eterna, nondimeno restituisce da qualche parte i pensieri dati dall’Inghilterra; le sue visioni ed i suoi suoni; sogna felice come il suo giorno; e la risata, imparata dagli amici; e gentilezza, nei cuori in pace, sotto un cielo inglese. COMMENT “The soldier” belongs to the sonnet sequence “1914”, written during the first phase of the war. In melodious conventional lines, it expresses what generally Englishmen felt in the autumn 1914: a sense of patriotism against the enemy and the will to defend their country and the idealization of those who died in battle= sacrifice their life for the country  DEATH IN BATTLE is not regarded as a tragic experience but as A NOBLE ACT It does not describe anything precise, but only present a vague generalization of the war, like “self-sacrifice, glory” and reflects an abstract view of the war, with no hint at actual horrors or at death, except for the death of the poet himself who, in his romantic idealization, pretends that earth of the “foreign field” (line 2) where he lies will be “forever England” (line3) = the reader imagine the blissfull state of the fallen soldier STRUCTURE (Identify what kind of poem it is /which special images) -The form of the poem , a smooth and sweet classical Petrarchan sonnet composed by 14 lines of iambic pentameter) is divided into an octave and a sestet with a regular rhyme pattern ABAB CDCD EFG EFG: the octave is rhymed according to the Shakespearean/Elisabeth rhyme scheme (abab cdcd), the sestet follows the Petrarchan/Italian rhyme scheme (efg efg). In “The Soldier” the poet combines the idea of spiritual cleansing, of inviolable memories of the dead, of hero’s immortal legacy. -The poet stressed the beauty of the English landscape (lines 4, 6, 8: rich earth/with flowers/with rivers, suns of home), he views England as a mother who gave him life (line5: bore, shaped, made aware), taught him feelings of joy and gentleness (lines 12, 13), the politeness and friendship of the English people (line 13). So, the images connected with ENGLAND are ----landscape: “some corner of a foreign field” (line2) “that rich earth” (line4) “her flowers “ “her ways” (line6) “washed by the rivers, blest by suns” (line8) -----private feelings: “England bore, shaped, made aware” (line5) “this heart” (line9), “a pulse in eternal mind”(line10) “the thought given by England”(line11) “dreams happy”(line12) “laughter learnt of friend”(line13) “gentleness in heart at peace”(line 14) -The poet also invokes the idea of resurrection “And think, this heart, all evil shed away / A pulse in the eternal mind” (lines9-10). And uses some images referring to DEATH: immortality = ”a richer dust” (line4) =di me rimarrà della polvere ricca peace = “this heart , all evil shed away” (line9) = il cuore è libero da ogni male STYLE The tone of the poem is patriotic, sentimental, nostalgic. CONTENTS Who is speaking? The poet is speaking Is he afraid of death? No, he isn’t Where will his grave be? In a foreign field, forever England How will his body enrich the soil? Because it will become dust Is there an emphasis on war? No, only on poet’s feelings Who do you think the poet is speaking to? To the English people, he wanted to inspire patriotism, sacrifice, ideals, aspirations (*)Owen, morto per “fuoco amico” proprio pochi giorni prima che la Grande Guerra terminasse, dedicò la sua poesia a tal Jessie Pope, una indimenticabile e dimenticata scrittrice le cui poesie erano invece farcite di patriottismo militaresco e incitavano i ragazzi ad arruolarsi per la guerra. La scrisse sempre nel 1917 mentre si trovava ricoverato in ospedale per le ferite e lo shock causati da un bomba esplosagli vicino in battaglia. COMMENT The Latin title means “It is sweet and honourable ”: it is a quotation from the Latin poet Horace (1st century BC) who borrowed the line from the Greek poet Tyrtaeus. MESSAGE OF THE POET : The poem is a manifesto against war and is addressed to those who claim that war is right and glorious. Through anti-heroic images, Owen talks about what he calls “the pity of war”, its inhumane aspects. STRUCTURE (content of each stanza) Stanza 1= the soldiers are retreating towards the trenches. They are tired, scared; they cough and are made blind as a result of the gas of the shells Stanza 2= there is the description of a gas attack: the men try to put on their masks in the green light and the poet’s friend is wounded Stanza 3= the sight of the dying friend returns in the poet’s dream Stanza 4= the poet describes his friend’s horrible death from chemical warfare and conveys (trasmette) the message of the poem There are some personal pronouns : we refers to the soldiers (lines 2, 3, 18) I refers to the poet (line 14) him refers to a soldier, a friend of the poet (line 14) you refers to the reader/to the writer Jessie Pope (lines 17, 21,25) the poet is probably addressing those people who think of war as a noble adventure. SOUNDS The poem is rich in sound effects of all kinds/there is an extensive use of ………………….: Alliteration: “b” (line1); “kn” “c” (line 2); “t” (line4); “m” (line5); “bl” (line6); “d” (line7) Repetition of sounds-----”b” in the 1st stanza ------”f” “s” in the 2nd – 4th stanza ------”pl” in the 3rd stanza Onomatopeia (=use of a word whose sound imitates that of its object: “crash – gulp – splash”) trudge=trascinarci (line4), hoots=sibili (line7), guttering=barcollare, chocking=soffocare, drowning=affogare (line 16), flung=gettammo (line 18), gargling=gargarismo, froth=gas (line 22) VOCABULARY (nouns, verbs) In the first 2 stanzas there words / phrases referring to physical and psychological suffering PHYSICAL SUFFERING Bent (line 1) =piegati Knock-kneed (line 2) = con le ginocchia che si toccano Coughing (line 2) = tossendo Trudge(line 4) =trascinarci Limped, blood-shod (line 6) =avanzavano zoppicanti, calzanti di sangue Lame, blind, deaf (lines 6,7) = zoppi, ciechi, sordid Stumbling (line 11) = inciampava PSYCHOLOGICAL SUFFERING Beggars (line 1) =mendicanti cursed (line 2) = maledicevano drunk with fatigue (line 7) = ubriachi di fatica ecstasy fumbling (line 9) =brancolare frenetico yelling out (line 11) =gridava In the first 2 stanza there are some verbs of movement: Stanza 1=began to trudge (line 4)= iniziammo a trascinarci marched asleep( line 5 ) = gli uomini marciavano addormentati the movements are slow , weary because of moral limped on (line 6)= avanzavano zoppicando and physical exhaustion Stanza 2= fumbling (line 9)= un brancolare (frenetico) stumbling( line 11) = (qualcuno) inciampava the movements are convulsive and frantic floud’ring (line 12)= (qualcuno)si dimenava because of panic FIGURES OF SPEECH the end of the second stanza marks the passage from the real world of the battlefield to an unreal, nightmarish (spaventoso), hallucinatory world: -which are the simile and metaphors used? Similes: lines 1, 2, 12, 14, 20, 23 Metaphors: blood-shod (line6), drunk with fatigue (line7), ecstasy of fumbling (line9) choking (line 16), gargling (line 22) -what semantic areas do they belong? They belong to the world of the supernatural or the fantastic the metaphors draw from the areas of illness and disease/psychological sufferings -what is the poet’s aim in using them? The poet compares the war to the worst of nightmares, even to hell. He stresses the physical and psychological suffering which haunt the soldiers LAST WORDS The final words are called “the old lie” (line 27) = the poet wants to underline that there is nothing noble or decorous in war !! It just means degradation and death. He uses bitter irony. The capital letter underlines the meaning of the word COMPARISON with Brooke’s Poem “The Soldier” suggestions……………. Brooke: romantic, idealized, drawn from nature and joy, dying at war brings glory Owen: disenchanted, condemned it, nightmarish, war and patriotism are deceitful Siegfried SASSOON (1886-1967) He was born in 1886 into a wealthy Jewish family: he had the possibility of doing activities for well-off (benestante) people, such as fox-hunting/playing cricket/golfing/writing romantic verse. He protested publicly against the war reading the “Declaration against the War” in the House of Commons in July 1917: he said this war was deliberately prolonged by those who had the power to end it. At the beginning, he entered upon this war as a soldier in order to defend his country, but later he realized that it was only a war of aggression and conquest, that it prolongued the soldiers’ sufferings, so the war was evil and unjust !! The political people, who were there, forgave his bitter and violent statements, thinking that he was suffering from shell-shock so he was sent to the military hospital of Craiglockhart , where he met and influenced Wilfred Owen. In his poems, collected in The Old Huntsman (cacciatore) (1917) and in Counter-Attack (1918), he denounced the political errors for which many soldiers were sacrificed and told the atrocities of the war with shocking and realistic details, through anger, satire and sardonic (maligna, beffarda) distancing (distanza). He was a pacifists involved in politics, siding with the Labour Party. He died in 1967, at the age of 81. SURVIVORS The poem is very powerful because it is auto-biographical. It was written in October 1917 at Craiglockhart hospital, in Edinburgh, during Sassoon’s forced convalescence after his “Declaration against the war”. No doubt they’ll soon get well; the shock and strain Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk. Of course they’re” longing to go out again” – These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk. They’ll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died, - Their dreams that drip with murder; and they’ll be proud Of glorious war that shatter’d all their pride… Men who went out to battle, grim and glad; Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad Senza dubbio presto staranno bene; lo shock e la tensione hanno causato il loro parlare balbettante e disconnesso. Certamente sono “desiderosi/vogliono uscire ancora”- Questi bambini con vecchie, spaventate facce, mentre imparano a camminare. Presto dimenticheranno le loro notti infestate; la loro atterrita soggezione ai fantasmi di nemici che morirono,- e I loro sogni che gocciolano di omicidio; e saranno orgogliosi della guerra gloriosa che ha mandato in frantumi tutto il loro orgoglio… Uomini che andarono a combattere, arcigni/risoluti e felici; Bambini, con occhi che ti odiano, rotti e pazzi. No doubt they’ll soon get well’ (line1) The opening line gives the reader a sense of misleading (ingannevole) hope….. but also in lines 3,5,7-8 stammering, disconnected talk (lines 1-2) One of the symptoms of shell-shock or ‘neurasthenia’ is a stammer, and a failure to link sentences together coherently. These boys with old, scared faces…….(line 4). Children…. (line 10) Another symptom of shell-shock was regression: soldiers were reduced to children Sassoon contrasts the youth and innocence of the soldiers with the ageing process of the war. Yet, although these men are made /become old before their time, they are also reduced to infants , having to re-learn such basic processes as how to walk. Of course they’re ‘longing to go out again, (line 3) all soldiers were willing to return to the front = soldiers wish to return (from England) to the fighting (in France) not necessarily because they have forgotten their trauma, but because of a sense of duty or, more commonly, a wish to be back with their comrades and not letting them face the dangers alone. Here, Sassoon is indulging in irony=he is clearly ironic, like the first three lines !! Haunted nights.…of friends who died……..their dreams that drip with murder (lines 5-6-7) nightmares and visions of their dead comrades haunted the survivors and increased their sense of guilt for being alive. (The ‘cowed subjection’ calls to mind a similar sense of guilt expressed in the poem ‘Sick Leave‘ by Sassoon) and they’ll be proud (line7) Of glorious war that shatter’d all their pride (line 8) Again the poet presents us with a sense of misleading hope, immediately reversed (invertita) by a harsh reminder (richiamo) of brutal reality. The survivors, once they have managed to forget the nightmares and visions of their dead comrades, will then be able to reflect on the ‘glorious war’ with pride; but this, in turn, will remind them of their time spent overcoming (sconfiggendo) the horror, when they had no self-esteem having been reduced to helpless children. Men …… children, with eyes that hate you…… (line 10) These last two lines are the most powerful of the whole poem : the men went out as soldiers, grim and glad, but returned as children, become broken and mad (completely broken psychologically and almost insane), hate the society/the politicians that did this to them. Sassoon ends the poem in an accusatory manner, no doubt directed at the supporters of the War, the people who can so easily push soldiers back to the front without ever knowing the horrors of trench warfare (guerra di trincea). the artificiality of political barriers, and the necessity of maintaining human values, especially humor, to endure trench warfare. The poet uses symbolism : a)the rat/the soldiers, b)the poppy, c)the white dust COMMENT The time of the day is the DAWN (line 1) . Line 2: daybreak is called the “old druid Time” = a time of human sacrifice, that is, something to be endured, not welcomed. To the soldiers, day is a time to be dreaded (di cui aver paura/da temere); the horrible reality of war is once again visible when darkness starts “crumbling.” (line 1) . This pastoral is not concerned with idyllic moments but with “shrieking iron and flame/ Hurled through still heavens.” (lines 20-21) Lines 3-4: suddenly a rat leaps over his English hand. But it is cosmopolitan: in fact soon he will leap over a German hand. We could sense the poet's bitterness about the war Yet, he also has a strong sense of irony. From the perspective of a rat, he pauses to consider a reversal of the situation: the rat can easily pass between the English and German lines unscathed (sano e salvo). It has a better chance of survival than these strong “athletes.” a) This poem gives opposite qualities to the rat; here it seems almost intelligent. It seems to understand the significance of the situation: The soldiers are in the trenches, huddled (stretti insieme) together in the muck (fango) and mire like rats. Their lives (many short-lived) have little value. The rat is the one viewing the situation in almost wonderment (stupore) at their unnatural terror. It is free to roam the green unscathed and is more likely to survive than many of the soldiers. In this war, the rat surely is not the demon. Perhaps war has turned the soldiers into demons. Certainly the soldiers main function is to kill. Line 12: the rat is going to cross the battlefield (the English and the German war lines) unscathed Lines 5-6: the speaker is reaching out the parapet in order to pick a puppy and place it behind his ear b) the poppy is the next major symbol. It is placed behind the poet’s ear The color of the poppy (red) is a chilling symbol of the blood that has been spilled. The poppies have been nourished on the blood of the dead. The poppy behind the soldier’s ear has been picked, so it is dying. It is dying just as the soldiers will die. For the moment, though, it is in a safe place (as long as he keeps his head down.) Lines 17-18: the setting of the place is the “bowels of the earth , the towns fields of France = a trench in France PERSONIFICATION Lines 19-22: the speaker wonders what the rat sees in the man’s eyes during the attack and if it hears their hearts beating with terror Line 25: at the end the flower is safe round the speaker’s ear but is whitened by the dust c) Finally, the poet speaks of the dust. It is the dust of a hot summer. It is ashen. It is the color one finds when all the life has been drained. There is already a little on the poppy. It reminds us that no matter how vibrant life is, it will eventually drain away. This is the final impression of the poem: this poppy is safe for only a fleeting (breve, fugace) moment. It makes me fear the poet is also safe for only a little while. There is a sense of impending (incombente-imminente)death. In conclusion, from the initial pain and bitterness of the author to a final deep sadness. Words used to describe the rat: a live thing (line 3) the animal represents LIFE /FREEDOM to go around queer, sardonic (line 4) without fear droll (line 7) cosmopolitan it is a moment of fun in the dreary (cupa) life of the soldier it grin (sogghigna) (line 13) Words used to describe the soldiers: strong eyes they used to be strong and proud fine limbs haughty athletes but now bonds to the whims of murder they are slaves to death and fear sprawled in the bowels of earth Therefore, the soldiers are not free and cannot escape their terrible situation. While the rat leaps, the men are lying with arms/legs stretched out into the trenches trying to find a shelter The poppy is a symbol of life, of a simple and gentle action a soldier does (to pick up) in the middle of the battlefield but also a symbol of precariousness (lines 23-24)---- like the blood which runs in the soldiers’ veins: In the trenches it is symbol of the sacrifice of these soldier! Today, the poppy is the symbol of remembrance for the soldiers fallen in the 1st World War. POPPY DAY on 11th November 1918= Armistice Day !!