Mametz Wood
Context
Born in Fiji, Owen Sheers grew up in Wales. As well as poems, he has written plays, non-fiction and fiction, including a best-selling novel called 'Resistance'. He co-wrote the screenplay for the book when it was turned into a film and has even helped write an opera for children. He also appears on radio and television talking about the arts generally.
He writes about places and landscapes but is really interested in people who live or have lived within them. The history and identity of Wales has formed a large part of his development as a poet and writer. It is people, their lives and their families that provide most of the focus for his work, though, especially the difficulties people face in simply trying to live.
Mametz Wood was the scene of fierce fighting during the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Soldiers of the Welsh division were ordered to take Mametz Wood, the largest area of trees on the battlefield. The generals thought this would take a few hours. It ended up lasting five days with soldiers fighting face-to-face with the enemy. There were 4,000 casualties, with 600 dead. The Welsh succeeded but their bravery and sacrifice was never really acknowledged.
Form and structure
Mametz Wood is written in three-line stanzas. The length of the lines changes. In some cases (for instance lines 4 and 12) the longer lines very clearly break up the neat form of the poem. These suggest the uneven ploughed field or the chits of bone rising out of the ground.
The use of full-stops shows there is a clear, regular structure within the poem: a single stanza is followed by a pair of stanzas, then another single stanza is followed by another pair. The final, seventh stanza acts as a conclusion.
This structure reflects the changing focus of the poem – from the land (the single stanzas one and four) then bones and people (the paired stanzas that follow).
The final stanza then combines these three elements
Born in Fiji, Owen Sheers grew up in Wales. As well as poems, he has written plays, non-fiction and fiction, including a best-selling novel called 'Resistance'. He co-wrote the screenplay for the book when it was turned into a film and has even helped write an opera for children. He also appears on radio and television talking about the arts generally.
He writes about places and landscapes but is really interested in people who live or have lived within them. The history and identity of Wales has formed a large part of his development as a poet and writer. It is people, their lives and their families that provide most of the focus for his work, though, especially the difficulties people face in simply trying to live.
Mametz Wood was the scene of fierce fighting during the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Soldiers of the Welsh division were ordered to take Mametz Wood, the largest area of trees on the battlefield. The generals thought this would take a few hours. It ended up lasting five days with soldiers fighting face-to-face with the enemy. There were 4,000 casualties, with 600 dead. The Welsh succeeded but their bravery and sacrifice was never really acknowledged.
Form and structure
Mametz Wood is written in three-line stanzas. The length of the lines changes. In some cases (for instance lines 4 and 12) the longer lines very clearly break up the neat form of the poem. These suggest the uneven ploughed field or the chits of bone rising out of the ground.
The use of full-stops shows there is a clear, regular structure within the poem: a single stanza is followed by a pair of stanzas, then another single stanza is followed by another pair. The final, seventh stanza acts as a conclusion.
This structure reflects the changing focus of the poem – from the land (the single stanzas one and four) then bones and people (the paired stanzas that follow).
The final stanza then combines these three elements