Write a critical note on the impact of World War I on English poetry.

Write a critical note on the impact of World War I on English poetry.

Answer: The First World War inspired profound poetry – words in which the atmosphere and landscape of battle are evoked perhaps more vividly than anywhere else. The poets – many of whom were killed – show not only the war’s tragedy but the hopes and disappointments of a generation. This collection of poems features the writing of the famous soldier poets, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen, alongside the poetry of  nurses, mothers, sweethearts and family and friends who experienced the war from entirely different standpoints.

The First World War truly earned its title as “The Great War”. This war was a new experience for the whole of mankind and as a result of the extreme and horrific experiences that many were put through it inspired many to record their experiences. Two Officers and also poets of the time were Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. With first hand experiences of the trauma of trench warfare they were able to pass on the true horrors of the war through the poems they created.

Owen’s poem Anthem For Doomed Youth describes a typical scene from one of the many battles which occurred during the First World War. The “monstrous anger of the guns” and the “rifles’ rapid rattle” can quickly establish an image in which we can envisage a lot of death and destruction. This type of description was extremely typical of much of the literature created during this period. The creators wished that those at home would have a better image of the true conditions of the war. Just as Owen also gives descriptions of the events during the dangerous setting, we also see it is not a very pleasant place. In The Last Laugh Owen also uses the intense and blunt sound of the “bullets” chirping. Owen uses an onomatopoeic word to allow us to believe that the bullets flew gracefully through the air similarly to a bird soaring through the breeze. These all add together to fill our mind with an empty field filled with machine gun fire. Though there is more to the war than just this, as we can see in Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est “we cursed through sludge” and Sassoon’s Suicide In The Trenches “In winter trenches, cowed and glum”. These poems show those “smug-faced crowds” that the conditions are much more hideous and horrifying than they could even begin to imagine. “While you are knitting socks to send your son”, taken from Glory of Women, presents an interesting dichotomy of a warm and cosy lifestyle in comparison with the desolation and destruction which is created on the front lines of the war. Sassoon uses the soft alliterative sound of “s” to show the gentle and almost luxurious atmosphere of those who remained at home. The comparisons between the home front and the war front are major themes covered in many of the texts created while the war was on, as we can also see from poet Everard Owen who describes in Three Hills, “a hill in England, Green fields and a school I know” which is compared with “a hill in Flanders, Heaped with a thousand slain”. Almost all of the poets who used writing to help deaden or reduce the psychologically damaging effects such devastation could inflict used description to inform the reader of the intensely gruesome surroundings.

Sassoon felt an immense animosity towards those who remained at home. He found it greatly irritating when someone in England saw him as they simply cheered as soldiers passed by. He was angry with the people who knew nothing of the war due to the level of their ignorance. The public expected patriotic behaviour though Sassoon used Suicide In The Trenches as one of his many tools to persuade otherwise. Here Sassoon informs us about another problem that many poets touched upon- the youthful boys. After being sent to fight in the trenches and ending up a lone survivor, the lad’s desperation reaches a critical level and he makes a conscious decision to “put a bullet through his brain”. This action though doesn’t sound like a sudden response; he had time to think about his actions prior to committing suicide and therefore decides that he should “put” the bullet where it seems to belong. The public whom lived in England never “spoke of him again”, this shows either the incredible ignorance that the British possessed or the immense censorship policies that were in place to prevent the release of potentially upsetting information to the hard working women back at home, who appeared to believe they were doing the right thing when they were to “worship decorations” (Glory of Women).........................

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