Flanders Fields

The three narratives “Home Soil” by Irene Zabytko, “Song of Napalm” by Bruce Weigl, and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen all have the same feelings of war and memory, although not everyone experiences the same war. Zabytko, Weigl, and Owen used shifting beats, dramatic descriptions, and intense, painful images, to convince us that the horror of war far outweighs the

The author of “Anthem for Doomed Youth” leads his reader through his personal struggle and frustration of war. Owen has an abrasive approach when describing the death all around him and clearly expresses his anger with the “hasty orisons” for the dead. He speaks directly of battlefront in the first octet and then includes the home front in the second half of his sonnet. Owen’s purpose is not a commemoration of fallen soldiers. Rather, he divulges the disgust and disappointment of war. Like McCrae, Wilfred Owen paints a picture of the multitude of deaths. Back at the home front, “…each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.” We can construe that the author is not simply talking about preparing for bed in the evening, but rather lowering the blinds in a room where yet another dead soldier lies, as an indication to the community and out of respect for the soldier. There is a lack of “passing-bells for these who die as cattle….no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs.” Owen writes as though he feels that there is indifference among the death of his fellow soldiers.

Wilfred Owens poem “Dulce et Decorum est” and Bruce Dawe’s poem “Homecoming” are poems from different wars, however both highlight the indignity of war. Owen’s poem is broken up into three sections, where he expresses the torture soldiers suffer

In 1915, the Battle of Ypres affected many Canadian soldiers during the First World War and many endured harsh environments. Using historical perspective allows one to understand and appreciate the sacrifice they made for their country. Men entered the army expecting a quick and exciting adventure, but were quickly shown the brutal truth. They were immediately thrown into the relentless environment that was filled with artillery, blood, and death and they would have to endure for the next five years. Trench warfare was brought up during this time where soldiers practically lived in mud and disease. There were rats and lice, diseases such as trench foot, and unbearable weather; every morning the troops would wake up in the unforgiving trenches

Kenneth Slessor’s poem, Beach Burial, outlines soldiers being rolled up on to the beaches from the surf, unidentified, each being buried as an unknown seaman, irrespective of which side they were on. Slessor’s elegy for the dead soldier’s in World War Two illustrates a main message, the idea of hope and despair. Hope is that there is an afterlife and futility is what they have in common. It is the belief that once we die there is something after, something more, life does not just end. The last line of the poem, “Enlisted on the other front” suggests there is another line on the other side, an afterlife theory. The soldiers at war grasp onto any sort of hope they can, as their mortality is foreseeable. Inversely, there is a sense of complete absence and loss of hope, despair. Despair is the horrible nature of war and the wasteful nature of it, its complete uselessness. Slessor constantly refers to the idea of despair throughout the poem, “Whether as enemies they fought” and “Dead seamen, gone in search of the same landfall” are both examples of the concept of despair. Just as their

And soon I came to know, that I might not make it for another round.

“I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.” In the words of Walt Whitman, to be empathetic is to feel another’s emotions. In order to feel the pain of others, one must experienced it themselves. War creates a situation where much empathy is needed to show compassion. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”, Ernst Junger’s novel “ Storm of Steel” and the film “All Quiet on the Western Front”, demonstrate how war, specifically World War I, demands empathy. The motif and irony in the poem, the descriptive language and repetition in the novel, and the sounds throughout the movie, spark an empathetic emotion in the hearts of those who experience them.

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity,” quoted Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Brainy Quote) War was and still is a serious event that is only understandable to those who have experienced it first-hand. World War l was a devastating battle that caused boundless amounts of destruction, not only to countries and cities but to human’s minds and bodies. John McCrae was a man who experienced the inescapable effects of war and the damage it caused to a person's sanity. His poem, “In Flanders Field,” is a written example of how devastating death was and the reality that demise was inevitable, effecting bystanders for the rest of their life.

After singing carols throughout the night, German and British soldiers would use the field in between their soulful trenches, as the stage for a peaceful gathering on Christmas day. The two sides would meet, independent of leadership, on the killing field called no mans land. This meeting between the trenches, gave pause to a war many thought would not last past Christmas.

Both authors believe that in order to be victorious persistence and strength to keep fighting is needed. In the poem it states “Take up our quarrel with the foe. To you, from failing hands, we throw the torch.” John McCrae wanted the soldiers to keep fighting for those who died so that they did not die in vain. In the diary it says “ ‘ this line must be held at all costs’” The general told his soldiers to keep fighting to hold the line and to not give up no matter what. The diary also stated “And hold it we did, through several more big attacks, though the enemy set fire to the farm and nearly roast us, though our numbers dwindled.” The soldiers who were still alive kept fighting through all of those terrible things because they knew that they had to in order to win the war. For these reasons one can conclude that John McCrae and Anthony Hossack both believe that war is a very hard and terrible time where many loved ones were lost, but you have to keep fighting so those who died did not die in vain and the war can be

The Great War was a long period of loss, tension, and emotions. For Canada, world war one was one of the bloodiest conflicts they’ve ever encountered with about 60,000 casualties. Canada’s involvement in the war was only because at the time they were still technically part of the British empire, which just deepened a divide between French and English Canada. Although this patriotic conflict was not included in the history books, it was still an underlining tension. E.J. Pratt’s work is inspired by human struggle and peril so the Great War and the Canadian nationalism rising influenced his writing. For instance, when the great war finally ended, Pratt was able to capture the unease feeling and stunned relief in his poem, “The Shark” by making the people feel like the shark was going to attack them at any moment, so when the shark swam away back into the ocean they felt relieved. Therefore, E.J. Pratt is a master when it comes to understanding people’s feelings, “emotions” and being able to connect with them on a deeper level.

In Flanders FieldsIn Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.     

At the beginning of the Great War, which would later be deemed World War II, there was a great sense of honor to be involved in this war. This involvement would include the soldiers that went to war and the people that stayed behind to supply the troops. In 1914 Charles Peguy, a Frenchman and lieutenant of infantry, wrote a poem that reveals the honor that was felt about fighting in this war. He writes “blessed are those who die a solemn

In the second stanza author tells us about how soldiers were loved and they loved back before and now they are dead and are buried in Flanders field, there are countless bodies buried in rows. It did not take them long to go through this metamorphosis like a step in life. They used to live at its fullest, a regular civilian life and in an instance, they were made to go through living hell not knowing whether they would survive. In the poem, the author uses poppies symbolically to represent the death of many soldiers. At that time saying: “Pushing up daisies” stood for death, I connected the daisies and poppies and I think that author used poppies to help us understand just how tragically soldiers died and how gory it was and that is why he uses poppies known for their blood color.

In Flanders field was written during WW1 and is still most inspiring war poem to this day. The author, John Mccrae, wrote this poem shortly after his friend had died (alexis helmer). Mccrae wrote this a few hours after his best mate helmers funeral he was tired and upset but calm as he sat near helmers grave and began to write. The poem was finished in a matter of minutes and John ripped it out of his notebook, threw it away as he was not satisfied with his work but it was luckily retrieved by fellow soldiers and later published. Alliteration used in Flanders field is, Flanders field, crosses, row on row, in the sky / The larks, still bravely singing, fly / Scarce, saw sunset, loved and were loved,