War Poetry

#1
The Concord Hymn
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1837)
By the rude bridge that arched the food
!heir fag to "pril#s bree$e un%urled&
'ere once the embattled %armers stood&
"nd (red the shot heard round the )orld*
!he %oe long since in silence slept&
+
"li,e the con-ueror silent sleeps
"nd !ime the ruined bridge has s)ept
.o)n the dar, stream that sea)ard creeps*
/n this green ban, by this so%t stream
We place )ith 0oy a 1oti1e stone
12
!hat memory may their deeds redeem
When li,e our sires our sons are gone*
/ !hou )ho made those heroes dare
!o die and lea1e their children %ree 33
Bid !ime and 4ature gently spare
1+
!he sha%t )e raised to them and !hee*
1* "naly$e the poem abo1e using the method )e regularly
practice* E5amine the title paraphrase connotations o%
particular )ords tone theme (gurati1e language imagery
structure etc*
#6
The Soldier
Rupert Broo,e (1713)
8% 8 should die thin, only this o% me9
!hat there#s some corner o% a %oreign (eld
!hat is %ore1er England* !here shall be
8n that rich earth a richer dust concealed&
" dust )hom England bore shaped made a)are
+
:a1e once her fo)ers to lo1e her )ays to roam&
" body o% England#s breathing English air
Washed by the ri1ers blest by suns o% home*
"nd thin, this heart all e1il shed a)ay
" pulse in the eternal mind no less
12
:i1es some)here bac, the thoughts by England gi1en&
'er sights and sounds& dreams happy as her day&
"nd laughter learnt o% %riends& and gentleness
8n hearts at peace under an English hea1en*
6* "naly$e the poem abo1e using the method )e regularly
practice& then use the analyses o% poem #1 and #6 to ans)er
the t)o -uestions belo)*
3* 8n ;!he <olider= )hat are the poet>s %eeling to)ard England
and the cause %or )hich he may die?
@* Aompare poems 1 and 6 abo1e* What is each poem
addressing? 8denti%y similarities and diBerences bet)een the
t)o* Aompare the structure o% the t)o poems*
#3
Dulce Et Decorum Est
Wil%red /)en (1762)
Bent double li,e old beggars under sac,s
Cnoc,3,need coughing li,e hags )e cursed through sludge
!ill on the haunting fares )e turned our bac,s
"nd to)ards our distant rest began to trudge*
Den marched asleep* Dany had lost their boots
+
But limped on blood3shod* "ll )ent lame& all blind&
.run, )ith %atigue& dea% e1en to the hoots
/% gas3shells dropping so%tly behind*
:asE :"<E Fuic, boysE G "n ecstasy o% %umbling
Hitting the clumsy helmets 0ust in time&
12
But someone still )as yelling out and stumbling
"nd foundering li,e a man in (re or lime* G
.im through the misty panes and thic, green light
"s under a green sea 8 sa) him dro)ning*
8n all my dreams be%ore my helpless sight
1+
'e plunges at me guttering cho,ing dro)ning*
8% in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the )agon that )e fung him in
"nd )atch the )hite eyes )rithing in his %ace
'is hanging %ace li,e a de1il#s sic, o% sin&
62
8% you could hear at e1ery 0olt the blood
Aome gargling %rom the %roth3corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud
/bscene as cancer
/% 1ile incurable sores on innocent tongues 33
6+
Dy %riend you )ould not tell )ith such high $est
!o children ardent %or some desperate glory
!he old Iie9 Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
+* "naly$e the poem abo1e using the method )e regularly
practice then use the analysis to ans)er the -uestions belo)*
J* !he Iatin -uotation in lines 68 and 67 is %rom 'orace9 ;8t is
s)eet and (tting to die %or one>s country*= 'o) is the line and
title ironic? .o you thin, that this poem is unpatriotic? What
is its purpose?
7* Which images in the poem are moist 1i1id? !o )hich senses
do they spea,?
8* .escribe the spea,er>s tone? What is his relationship to his
audience?
#@
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
Randall Karrell (17@+)
Hrom my mother#s sleep 8 %ell into the <tate
"nd 8 hunched in its belly till my )et %ur %ro$e*
<i5 miles %rom earth loosed %rom the dream o% li%e
8 )o,e to blac, fa, and the nightmare (ghters*
When 8 died they )ashed me out o% the turret )ith a hose*
+
7* "naly$e poem #@ abo1e using the method )e regularly
practice then use the analysis to ans)er the -uestions belo)*
12* 'o) are the images o% the soldiers in poem #3 and #@
diBerent %rom the images that typically appear in recruiting
posters !L ads and the pre1ious t)o poems?
11* Aompare the similarities in structure in the (rst t)o poems
)ith the third and %ourth poem* <peculate as to the purpose
o% the diBering structures %or the each poem*