Poetry of the World War I - Essay Example

The men’s poetry that is more prevalent and has come to play the dominant role in the view offered about World War I. Part of this reason is that a considerable part of the 500 odd poems that have been written by women as surmised by Khan have not formed a part of the body of mainstream poetry. The poetry of the World War I is especially significant because of the new poetic form that arose – trench poetry. These poems were written in stark, simple rhyme, not mincing words in portraying what the war was really like.

Therefore these poems served to bely the existing notions of patriotism linked with war and cast doubts upon the notion that war was necessary in order to restore man’s faith in God. Such large scale and destruction could scarcely be justified as a godly act, neither could the deaths of so many soldiers be said to have occurred for a cause that justified those deaths. Therefore, trench poetry represents a landmark in English poetry – it led to the emergence of a new realistic form of poetry that was quite different from the romantic, flowery idealistic kind of poetry that existed before the War.

It may also be argued that Georgian poetry set the foundations for the emergence of trench poetry, with its emphasis on reporting only what was actually seen with the eyes.