Three Great War Poems and Explanation How They Criticize War.
The Great War (28 July,1914-11 November,1918), also known as The First World War, was one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 millions people were killed and much more were injured. It shocked the whole world and, on the other hand, became an inspiration for many writers. The aim of poetry were: to stop spreading violence among people, to finish the cruel war, and to make people aware of all consequences of fighting. The three great examples of such works are, in my opinion: Siegfried Sassoon’s “The General”, Isaac Rosenberg’s “Break of Day in The Trenches” and Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. The first of them, “The General” presents the criticism of getting benefits from being a soldier – here, the lyrical character is a general who is most likely not a real soldier, he does not take part in the battle and only says:”Good morning” to his subordinates, but because of his rank will be probably praised by the government. This poem shows the comfortable position of those people who are in charge and not necessarily see the cruelty and death of thousands of soldiers. The general does not care about them, he is not depressed as others, because he does not have to look at dying in the front lines men. Line 4 suggests his incompetence which causes that many soldiers have no chance to survive on the battlefield: decisions made by the general have nothing in common with the situation there. The whole poem criticizes the lack of competence of people in charge which leads to the death of many “heroes” who sacrifice themselves to defend their countries.
As the title suggests, Isaac Rosenberg creates the picture of soldiers fighting with enemy from behind the trenches. One of them is also the author himself (the poem was written in the trench), who is describing alone man talking to a rat. The soldier wants to visit German and British troops, knowing that it would end with his execution. The poem does not present a glorious and heroic status of being a
As the title suggests, Isaac Rosenberg creates the picture of soldiers fighting with enemy from behind the trenches. One of them is also the author himself (the poem was written in the trench), who is describing alone man talking to a rat. The soldier wants to visit German and British troops, knowing that it would end with his execution. The poem does not present a glorious and heroic status of being a