Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Soliloquy - Francis Ledwidge
Form:
Steady, regular rhythm matched with a
regular rhyme scheme - almost mirrors the rhythm of marching, as though
Ledwidge is marching to his fate.
Irregular
stanza length.Language:
“I grew weary doing well” – link to ideas
of Edwardian lifestyle and how people became jaded by the monotonies of life
before the war. Could be irony? They would not be saying that if they knew of
what they would encounter at war.
“Helpless child” – helpless here represents
the vulnerability of the men who went off to war. Child suggests the innocence
of the men. Idea of loss of incorruptibility of the men.
“Loud with war” – the war was a force which
was able to corrupt all. War overwhelms everything and domineers the lives of
millions.
“Too late… to retrieve a fallen dream” –
the dreams of the men have been cut short and this suggests the abrupt and
inconsequential nature of human life.
“Too late… to grieve a name unmade” – he
will become no one and will make no name for himself because of the war. Also
references to the nameless, faceless nature of those who died and how they
became “millions of mouthless dead”
“Greater
than a poet’s fame” – sarcasm
Structure:
Regular enjambment – suggests the inner
workings of his mind and the continuous trail of his thoughts. Almost as though
he can only say what he really feels in poetry. This hints at the idea of
censorship and the fact that the men perhaps felt trapped and unable to confide
in anyone about the horrors they had seen.
Lack
of caesura – reinforces point above about being one continuous trail of
thought.
Tone:
The tone is that of regret (too late), sarcasm
(greater than a poet’s fame) and bitterness (fallen dream, name unmade)
Links :
Idea of being awakened from the lethargy of Edwardian
life – Peace by Rupert Brooke
Untitled (‘All the hills…) - C. H. Sorley
Form:
4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Last four lines
suggest a marching rhythm of left right left ect !
Language:
-Pessimistic and cynical towards war
countering patriotism
-Religious connotations to suggest betrayal
-Personification of earth as mother
-Repetition: mocks the idea that we are
fighting for liberty
Structure:
-Full stops often used as a tool of
bluntness – the suddenness of death or the repetitive marching .
-Monosyllabic “so be merry so be dead” –
inevitability of death
Tone:
-Cynical towards war
-Slight patriotism but accepts the realities
of war , understands there will be death ?
- Happy to die for country
-Modern : sympathy
Links :
- Exposure – bitter feelings ?
- Base details -Untitled “millions of…”
The Call - W.N. Hodgson
Form:
-7 stanzas of 4 lines each with rhyming couplets which adds a romanticised tone.
-fragmented, each stanza is a season . Regularity suggests a life cycle
Language:
- Georgian - Etherial language , wading through seasons - a metaphor for the life cycle
- Paradox : "beauty and sorrow" -wasted youth and innocence
- Metaphors for angels
Structure:
- Alliteration and sibilance : romanticised, slows pace .- full stop symbolises the end of a season of life
- "ah!" - excitement of war
- Ceasura - see and do, while blood runs high - foreshadows death
Tone:
- mythical and etherial , jingoistic -undertones of bitterness and resent towards leaving childhood , however he may be suggesting it brings them into a new era.
Reader response:
The poem is about the youth leaving childhood and being pulled into manhood too quickly - "reluctant wings" climatic ending of going over the top to convey an anti-patriotic message .
Links :
- Anthem for a doomed youth -wasted
- This Generation - sacrificed youth
- Recruiting - cynical
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