A Comparison of Two Poems about Soldiers
A Comparison of Two Poems about Soldiers "Joining The Colours" by Katherine Tynan and "The Send Off" by Wilfred Owen are two poems about soldiers leaving Britain to Fight in WWI. "Joining The Colours" is about a regiment of soldiers leaving to go to France to fight. This was at the beginning of the First World War and all the soldiers were happy because it was an opportunity for them to show their girlfriends and their families that they were brave. "The Send Off" is about a regiment of young soldiers who are departing later in the war. It was written a few years after "Joining The Colours". Even though these poems are about the same topic, their structure, styles, and moods are very different because the authors are trying to convey the feelings of war very differently. In "Joining The Colours" by Katherine Tynan, the soldiers seem happy as they march to war. In stanza 1 for example "There they go marching all in step so gay" (1). This quotation shows how they enjoy marching, all together. They look almost as though they are "going to a wedding day" (3). In stanza 2 the soldiers "are singing like the lark" (6). In stanza 3 they make noises with "whistles, mouth-organs" (9). The soldiers are carefree because they are brave.
There is an impression of conspiracy because everything is going on so secretly and silently as though something is going wrong. This shows that they are afraid because everything is so quiet that it looks like a secret mission. At the end of stanza 1 it shows the soldiers trying to hide their fear the soldiers' "faces grimly gay" (3). The second group of people mentioned in this poem are those who are standing at the roadside watching. This is because the poet is trying to convey a picture to the reader that war is fatal and it should never had happened. The reader is suppose to feel sorry for these "poor girls" because the reader knows that many of the soldiers are going to die in the war. In stanza 3 it says that "the signal nodded, and a lamp winked to the guard" (9). In line 2 it starts getting frightening at the end because the young and healthy soldiers are going to be "food for shells and guns" (2). It has 4 verses and 4 lines and this reminds the reader of marching, which is the theme of the poem. It also says that they stepped past into the mist, which means they won't come back anymore. All the soldiers who are going to war know that they are marching towards death.
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Acceptance Essays
