POETRY FOR SOLDIERS

WAR POETS

Poetry, as Wordsworth defines it, is “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.

No other human experience has ever generated such powerful feelings than war. Intense fear as
opposed to hope and faith, hatred and love, calm and despair -hatred for the enemy, for the
generals, for the politicians, love for the country, for the cause, for the ones we leave behind.

When taking into consideration the early writings of man, we can find similarities
between love poems and war poems they both praised action. Nowadays there are no similarities
between what we broadly call love poems and war poems. While most poems have been in favor
of love, recently most war poems have been implicitly, if not explicitly anti- war. As long as
warrior met warrior with their swards in equal combat men could celebrate courage, victory,
heroism, chivalry. With the advancement in technology these values and ideal became irrelevant.
The distance between combatants made poets respond more and more to “man`s inhumanity to
man”.

FOR YOU TO STUDY!

Here is a list of some of the greatest poems, from the earliest times to modern times,
poems in which we see the many faces of war, across time and space.

The Battle of Maldon

The Charge of The Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy

Christ and the Soldier by Siegfried Sassoon

Strange Meetings by Wilfred Owen

Aristocrats by Keith Douglas

Platform One by Ted Hughes

Requiem For the Croppies by Seamus Heaney

“Some poets glorified the cause patriotically—trumpeting the older, traditional notions of duty
and honor, while mourning the millions of dead. Meanwhile, many younger soldier-poets shirked
the platitudes and flowery language of the past and infused their work with war’s gruesome
realities to strip modern war of its old-fashioned glory.” (www.poetryfoundation.org)
Wilfred Owen

Few would challenge the claim that Wilfred Owen is the greatest writer of war poetry in the
English language. He wrote out of his intense personal experience as a soldier and wrote with
unrivalled power of the physical, moral and psychological trauma of the First World War. All of
his great war poems on which his reputation rests were written in a mere fifteen months.

From the age of nineteen Wilfred Owen wanted to become a poet and immersed himself in
poetry, being especially impressed by Keats and Shelley.

He was working in France, close to the Pyrenees, as a private tutor when the First World War
broke out. At this time he was remote from the war and felt completely disconnected from it too.
Even when he visited the local hospital with a doctor friend and examined, at close quarters, the
nature of the wounds of soldiers who were arriving from the Western Front, the war still
appeared to him as someone else's story.

Eventually he began to feel guilty of his inactivity as he read copies of The Daily Mail which his
mother sent him from England. He returned to England, and volunteered to fight on 21 October
1915. He trained in England for over a year and enjoyed the impression he made on people as he
walked about in public wearing his soldier's uniform. 

He was sent to France on the last day of 1916, and within days was enduring the horrors of the
front line. (www.warpoetry. co.uk)

Wilfred Owen experienced the war fighting as a soldier in the First World War. In 1916
he fought the battle of the Somme. Suffering from shell shock, he was sent to war Hospital in
Scotland where he met poet Siegfried Sassoon who encouraged him to write poetry as a way of
coping with the tough reality of the war. Writing became a form of therapy as he was having
recurring nightmares produced by the experience of war. In 1918 he returned to the front and
was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery. He was killed on the battlefield just before the
war ended.

The realistic description of war that his poems present were not so well received by the
public which preferred the romantic view of the war, the heroism rather than the horror he
described. Robert Brook was a more popular figure of the time, mostly due to his romantic
patriotism which appealed to the public at the beginning of the 20 th century. Nevertheless, his
reputation grew slowly and nowadays he is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest war
poet.
 Rupert Brooke became famous as a war poet after he wrote the five “War Sonnets” at the
break of the First World War. He was born in England and educated at King`s College,
Cambridge, where his father was a master. After he completed his education, he traveled to
Germany, where he wrote his first poetry collection, Poems, in 1911. As a result of a nervous
breakdown he travelled to the United States, the Pacificand Canada. When the First World War
broke he joined the Royal Naval Division as an officer and took part in a short expedition to
Antwerp. He wrote he five „War Sonnets” while on leave, in 1914. Being dispatched to the
Dardanelles he died of blood- poisoning. He is buried on the Greek island of Scyros.

Siegfried Sassoon was educated at the best schools and universities in London as he
belonged to a wealthy Jewish family. When the First World War broke he enlisted and he was
sent to France. He took part in the battle of Somme and was shot by a sniper. He was awarded
the Military Cross for bravery, which he din`t praise very much, as he eventually threw it away.
He met Wilfred Owen in Scotland at the War Hospital where they were both recovering from
shell-shock. He published a collection of anti-war poems in which he emphasis the futility of the
was and sharply criticises it and everything that may be related to it. In his collection of anti war
poems called Counter-attack(1918), he describes the horrors of war graphically. His writings
were dominated by thhis experience of war even after the war ended. He has also published two
volumes of religious poetry and he converted to Catholicism. He died on 1967.

TASKS:

1.Study the lives of this three poets, find similarities and differences and make a brief report.

2.Write an essay entitled :The realistic vision of war as opposed to the romantic vision of war ,as
presented in the works of the war poets .
 MY HERO

A hero thinks of others before they think

of themselves
A hero will die to protect
A hero can be of any age, any colour
A hero can be man, woman or child
A hero is courageous, loving and brave
A hero will never complain
A hero can be made in one act of
compassion
Or years of tender loving care
Some hero's are remembered, whilst
many are left forgotten
Hero's are angels in disguise, saving
precious innocent lives

I dedicate this poem

To Pvt Steven Freund, Officer Kevin
Tonn and all fallen heroes.

Nicola Burkett

1.Are you proud of being a military student and a future officer in the Romanian Army?

2. In what way can you relate to the poems above?

 The horror and heroism of the First World War was to be depicted by a whole generation
of English poets. Millions of young men fought and died during this war. Where they fearless
heroes in pursuit of a noble ideal or just ignorant victims of a mindless geopolitical power
struggle?

Three different visions of what has been known as the Great War will be presented here
under the form of three poems written by three poets belonging to the generation of war poets.

Two of them, Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen died during the war , while Siegfried
Sassooon survived.

The Soldier

by Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there `s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever 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, his heart, all evil shed away Glossary:

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less 1. concealed: hidden
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; 2. bore: gave birth to
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; 3.made aware: educated
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness 4.ways to roam: roads on
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. which to travel freely
5. blest: blessed
6. shed away: eliminated
 1. How can you describe the tone of the poem?
-patriotic - ironic - nostalgic -bitter - triumphant

2. Which description best fits the poem according to your opinion?

-a patriotic celebration of England and its values
- a realistic description of the horrors of war
- an exploration of the ideal that send man to war

3. What does the author compare England with?

- a lover - a friend - a mother - a leader - a teacher

4. Which of the following descriptions best illustrates the poet`s view of England?
- a busy life spent in the agitated and exhausting city
- a quiet , pure life spent in contact with nature in rural England

5. The author says that if he should die his life will become ‘a pulse in the eternal mind’
What associations does the following line suggest to you?
- spirituality - immortality - life - constancy -brevity

6. What gifts has the poet received from England according to the poem?

7. Which expressions suggest that not even death can influence the poet`s special bond with
his beloved country?

8. What are the ‘thoughts’ that his heart will give back if he should die?

Dulce et Decorum Est

by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Glossary:

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, 1. hags: witches
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, 2. sludge: mud
And towards our distant rest began to trudge. 3. flares: lights that
Man marched asleep. Many had lost their boots illuminated the
But limped on, blood- shod. All went lame; all blind; battlefield
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots 4. trudge: walk slowly
Of gas shells dropping softly behind. and tiredly

5. went lame: couldn`t

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!- An ecstasy of fumbling, walk very well
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; 6. hoots: sounds
But still was yelling out and stumbling 7. shells: artillery, bombs
And flound`ring like a man in fire or lime- 8. clumsy: difficult to
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, put on
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
9. lime: a substance that
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, burns severely
He plunges at me , guttering, choking, drowning. 10. smothering: suffocating
11. pace: walk
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace 12. writhing: twisting
Behind the wagon that we flung him in, 13. jolt : sudden movement
And watch the white eyes writhing his face, of the wagon
His hanging face, like a devil`s sick of sin; 14. cud: regurgitated food
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 15. sores: painful wounds
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, 16. zest: enthusiasm
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues- 17. Dulce……mori: ‘It is
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest sweet and proper to
To children ardent for some desperate glory, die for one`s country’
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est (Horace)
Pro patria mori.

ACTIVITIES:
1. The poem is composed of four irregular stanzas. Associate each stanza with its content:
CONTENT STANZA
a) Description of the marching soldiers. 1
b) The poet`s message for warmongers 2
c) Description of the gas attacks 3
d) The poets recurring nightmare 4

2. How can you describe the physical and psychological condition of the soldiers?
3. What do the soldiers try to do during the gas attack?
4. What does the poet see in his dreams?
5. Who does the poet address as ‘My friend’?
6. What is ‘The old Lie’?
7. Find words in the text that convey an image of panic and confusion.
8. What are the victims of the gas attack compared with?
9. Find images that appeal to senses of sight, taste and touch in the description of the
soldiers.
 Base Details

by Siegfried Sassoon

If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,

I`d leave with scarlet Majors at the Base,
And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
You would see me with my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honour. ‘Poor young chap’
I`d say-‘I used to know his father well;
Yes, we `ve lost heavily in this last scrap
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I`d toddle safely home and die- in bed.

GLOSSARY:
1.Base: military headquarters, but also lowly, of little significance
2.Details: assigning personnel to specific tasks, but also unimportant, insignificant pieces
of information
3.bald: having no hair
4.scarlet: red faced
5. glum: sad
6. guzzling : drinking a lot
7. gulping: swallowing
8. Roll of Honours: list of dead soldiers
9. chap: man
10. scrap: little fight
11. toddle: walk with short steps, like a baby

Activities:

1. Who does the poet imagine himself to be?

2. Where would he live and what would he be doing in this case?
3. What would he eat and drink?
4. Where would he die?
5. What is the tone of the poem?
6. Why is the expression ‘glum heroes’ paradoxical?
7. How can you explain the double meaning of ‘Base Details’? Who are the Base Details?

The Soldier, Dulce et Decorum Est and Base Details are all poems about the subject of
war. They offer different insights and perspectives even though they deal with the same
subject. Try to write a paragraph stating the theme of each of the poems, using your own
words.
Can you think of other aspects of the war that have not been dealt with in the poems
you have read, aspects that would be an interesting theme for a poem, film, story or song?

TASK:

There are a lot of movies about war as it has always been a popular subject for directors.
Choose a film about war that you have seen and do the following tasks:

I. Try to explain the title and its relation to the subject matter of the movie.
II. Choose a heroic scene from the movie and describe it.
III. Choose a scene that reveals the dark side of human nature and describe it.
IV. Generally speaking, does the movie reflect the more heroic or the more horrific
aspects of war?
V. Which, if any, of the poems you have read would you associate with the film ?
Give reasons for your choice.
VI. Which if any of the songs you have heard would you associate with the film?
Give reasons for your choice.
 Tony Harrison is considered to be one of Britain’s most appreciated contemporary poet.

He was born in a working class family, in Leeds, in 1937. Being a brilliant student, he
completed his studies in order to become a teacher. As a teacher he has been lecturing in West
Africa for four years and for a year in Prague. He has published over fifteen books of poetry in
Britain. Family life and childhood memories are the most recurrent themes of his work.

‘The Morning After’ is a celebration of the victory over Japan in the Second World War .

The poet remembers VJ Day(15th August 1945) in his hometown of Leeds, in the north of
England where he is celebrating the victory together with his friends and family, along with
millions of British. After a long bloody war a victory celebration is no doubt a time for joy and
liberation. But, Tony Harrison asks, what is the price of victory?

Glossary:

The Morning After fire: bonfire for celebration

smoulder: burn slowly

The fire left to itself might smoulder weeks. melt: turn from solid to liquid
Phone cables melt. Paint peels from off back gates. peels from: comes off
Kitchen windows crack; the whole street reeks crack: split open
Of horsehair blazing. Still it celebrates. reeks: smells horribly
blazing: burning
Though people weep, their tears dry from the heat. flush: go red
Faces flush with flame, beer, sheer relief sheer: bliss
and such a sense of celebration in our street scorched: discolored by heat
For me it still means joy though banked with grief glowed: produced light and heat
cobbles: stones used to make
And that, now clouded, sense of public joy roads
With war-worn adults wild in their loud fling The Rising Sun: the sun on
has never come again since as a boy the Japanese flag
I saw Leeds people dance and heard them sing. jabbering : talking excitedly
mere: only
blood red ball: the sun on
There`s still that dark scorched circle on the road. The Japanese flag
The morning after kids like me helped spray blackout shreds: burnt pieces
Hissing upholstery spring-wire that still glowed
And cobbles boiling with black gas-tar for VJ.
II
The Rising Sun was blackened on this flames. Rule Britannias: imperialistic
The jabbering tongues of fire consumed its rays. Song from a poem by J. Thomson
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, were mere names bobbing: dancing
For us small boys who gloried in their blaze. hokey-cokey: type of dance

The blood-red ball, first burnt to blackout shreds, kitchen blackout cloth: piece of
Took hovering batwing on the bonfire`s heat cloth that covered the window to
above the Rule Britannias and the bobbing heads stop lights being seen during raids.
of the VJ hokey-cokey in our street. cloak: sleeveless coat

The kitchen blackout cloth became a cloak fiend: evil person

For me to play at fiend Count Dracula in. dribbled: fell slowly
I swirled it near the fire. It filled with smoke. nerve- wrackingly: frighteningly
Heinz ketchup dribbled down my vampire`s chin. zilch : nothing

That circle of scorched cobbles scarred with tar`s

A night –sky globe nerve- wracking all-black,
Both hemispheres entire but with no stars,
And Archerless zilch, a Scaleless zodiac.

TASKS:

In any conflict or competition there is a winner and a loser, whether it is a competition or a war.
Choose from the following ways of treating the loser the one that you consider to be the most
appropriate.

1. The winner should enjoy his victory and ignore the looser.
2. The winner should celebrate but also try to show compassion and comfort the loser.
3. There should be no celebration in order not to hurt the feelings of the loser.
 REPRESENTATIONS OF HEROS AND FIGHTING SPIRIT IN SONGS AND
MOVIES

Inspiring movies
Inspiring songs

The song ‘Burning Heart’ sung by Survival appeared on the soundtrack of Rocky, an
inspiring movie from the 1980, a movie that has one of the most inspiring and memorable theme
songs of all time along with Gladiator, Braveheart, Mission Impossible and others. Humble
beginnings associated with determination and goodness. Rock`s character, his will to succeed is
extremely motivating and inspiring during challenging times. It teaches you to ‘go the distance’
in whatever it is you are doing and to seize every opportunity in life, never give up and enjoy
every victory.

Two worlds collide

Rival nations
It's a primitive clash
Venting years of frustrations
Bravely we hope
Against all hope
There is so much at stake
Seems our freedom's up
Against the ropes
Does the crowd understand?
Is it East versus West
Or man against man
Can any nation stand alone
In the burning heart
Just about to burst
There's a quest for answers
An unquenchable thirst
In the darkest night
Rising like a spire
In the burning heart
The unmistakable fire
In the burning heart
In the warriors code
There's no surrender
Though his body says stop
His spirit cries, never!
Deep in our soul
A quiet ember
Know it's you against you
It's the paradox
That drives us on
It's a battle of wills
In the heat of attack
It's the passion that kills
The victory is yours alone
In the…
In the burning heart
Just about to burst
There's a quest for answers
An unquenchable thirst
In the darkest night
Rising like a spire
In the burning heart
The unmistakable fire
In the burning heart
Just about to burst
There's a quest for answers
An unquenchable thirst
In the darkest night
Rising like a spire
In the burning heart
The unmistakable fire
In the burning heart
 The war-poppies connection was certainly popularised by WWI and in particular by this John
McCrae poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’. John McCrae (1872-1918), a Canadian lieutenant colonel,
was inspired to write it after he conducted the burial service for an artillery officer, Alexis
Helmer, who had been killed in the conflict. In the chaplain’s absence, McCrae, as the company
doctor, presided over the burial of the young man.