There is no single event that evokes more emotion than a war. It has the power to bring together a nation or tear at its very fabric. It has the power to give a nation its standing, as easily as it can take it away. It has the power to move men to acts they thought themselves uncapable of. It gives its participants a view of the world some will never understand. War is an inevitable result of a world diversified in its beliefs. However it is the view of the solider that is often ignored, the labors of war viewed as an honorable thing for a man to go through. Only through writing do we understand the horrors of war that seem to escape the tales of heroism we often hear. Poems such as Dulche at Decorum Est, Grass, and Base Details help us to better understand the plight of the solider.
The poem grass is trying to make a point of the large amounts of people that die in these wars we consider honorable. It opens by mentioning two famous battle sites, Austerlitz and Waterloo. It states “Shovel them under and let me work-- I am the grass; I cover all. Sandburg is trying to make a statement that the grass is acting as the cover up for the blood that was shed there. The grass grows and the lives lost there are forgott
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“In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning. The people asking the conductor shows the ignorance of people to even remember what happened at these sites. The next three lines describe someone who is being tortured by the pain and is “drowning under the green sea” is the death of a man he sees. It has long been a tradition to glorify the honor of war. The next lines tell how they just tossed aside those who died. ” These lines are attempting to show the heartlessness of the majors who care little about the members of their army and spend their days drinking rather than going through the perils of war. The next two lines states “fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” illustrating how they were not even aware enough to put their helmets on straight. ” The next four lines show the mindset of these men as they got ready for battle. It creates an image of the bent over solider in the line “bent double, like old beggars under sacks. Two years, ten years, almost as if time was insignificant because they were so soon forgotten.
The most detailed and graphic of the three poems is Dulche at Decorum Est. The first four lines describe the state of the soldier’s health as they go through the days. While nobody who doesn’t go through the trying times of war can fully understand it. It would be hypocritical to enjoy the freedoms of a society and not be willing to defend it. It is these writings the insure that we won’t forget the blood shed on our behalf, the lives lost for our rights.
Approximate Word count =
970
Approximate Pages =
4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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