Repression of War Experience Poem - Essay Example

Siegfried Sasson: Repression of War Experience poem Introduction Siegfried Loraine Sassoon,the writer of the poem Repression of War Experience was famous for his writings on the theme of war and its brutalities. His anti-war views were reflected in his poems. The horrible sights of the war were depicted in his poems bringing forth the reality of war and its terrifying effects on human lives. His poem Repression of War deals with the theme of memories of war. He wants to forget the horrible sights he witnessed on the war field but in spite of his persistent efforts these memories haunt him. The poet being a soldier himself expresses his own thoughts about the war memories and his desperation to forget them. So the tone of the poem is one of sorrow and pain. The poem also presents the futility of men’s desires to seek glory by fighting in the war. Thus the focus will be on this theme of war memories and the poet’s efforts to forget them, and how this theme can be viewed through the elements of imagery, figurative language and sound devices. Imagery The poem “Repression of War” by Siegfried Sassoon describes the situation of a soldier who is haunted by the horrible memories of the war. The poet is revealing his own feelings in the poem as he was also a soldier who had experienced the brutalities of the war. To depict his pain the poet has utilized imagery in his poem effectively to convey his message. In the opening stanza of the poem he tells that if soldiers are not able to control their thoughts about the war then they are in danger of becoming mad. “Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts That drive them out to jabber among the trees”.(Sasson, lines 7-8). The image of soldiers jabbering among the trees creates a picture of a mad soldier in the mind of the readers. Even when the poet is suggesting ways which can be utilized to divert the mind from the war he uses imagery to bring forth his ideas. He advises to take deep breaths and count till fifteen so that one stays calm and free from the sickening thoughts of the war. Then he mentions that it would be helpful to relax if it rains. The beauty of rain is described by the poet in the following lines, “I wish there'd be a thunder-storm to-night, With bucketsful of water to sluice the dark, And make the roses hang their dripping heads”. (Sasson, lines 13-15). The images of roses drenched in raindrops and the sound of thunder present the nature in its most beautiful form. The poet wants to enjoy these attractive sights of the nature so that his mind is distracted from the repulsive thoughts of war. The whole poem is full of images which help the reader in creating pictures of those things mentioned by the poet in his poem. Even the simple things like books are vividly described by the poet, “Dressed in dim brown, and black, and white, and green, And every kind of colour. Which will you read?” (Sasson, lines 18-19). The reader upon reading these lines starts imagining a book shelf full of books with covers of different colors. The last stanza of the poem present the contrasting pictures of a peaceful home and the terrifying sounds of guns on the war field. Here also the poet has used imagery to convey his thoughts. “You're quiet and peaceful, summering safe at home……why, you can hear the guns. Hark! Thud, thud, thud,—quite soft ... they never cease”. (Sasson, lines 33-36). The tranquility of home and the tumult of war are depicted in the above lines. Figurative language The figurative language in the poem expresses the poet’s ideas with providing images of moths, rain, war and home. There is a use of metaphor when the moths burning their wings in the candle are compared to the men who fight in the war to gain glory. “Now light the candles; one; two; there's a moth; What silly beggars they are to blunder in And scorch their wings with glory, liquid flame— No, no, not that,—it's bad to think of war. (Sasson, lines 1-4). The silliness of moths and human beings fighting in war is compared in the lines by expressing the fact that both them are harming themselves in their quest for glory. Although, they may be aware or may not be aware that their lives will be in danger during their pursuit for glory, they continue in that trodden and difficult path. Thus, while portraying them as a kind of tragic heroes, the poet aptly uses figurative language. There is no rhyming scheme followed in the poem. The stanzas are also divided unevenly with the first stanza being of three verses, the second of eight verses and the last one consists of twenty lines. Sound Devices The sound devices used in the poem consist of onomatopoeia and alliteration. The sound of guns firing in the war is presented with the words, “thud”, “thud” in the poem. This is a perfect example of onomatopoeia where sounds are provided to represent the things. The sound of gunfire represents the guns and killing of humans by those guns on the war field. The diction in the poem is simple as the language and vocabulary used in the poem is understood by the common man. There is a use of metaphors to convey the theme of war memories and soldiers grappling with them. The rhetorical devices used in the poem are alliteration, imagery, antithesis, metaphor and personification. The rhetorical device of antithesis is implied in the last stanza when the contrasting situations of a peaceful home and frightening atmosphere of war are portrayed in the same stanza. Personification is used to describe the sights of roses hanging their heads in the rain. Imagery is used throughout the poem to create the pictures of war, home and rains. “I'm going stark, staring mad because of the guns”. (Sasson, line.39). Alliteration is found in the poem, the sounds of the words in the above line, “stark” and “staring” are similar. Metaphor is used to compare the moths’ efforts to become glorious by burning their wings in the candle light to that of the soldiers who wish to achieve glory by fighting in the war. Conclusion The poem succeeds in portraying the sufferings of the poet who being a soldier is disturbed by the horrifying memories of the war. Although the poet tries to forget those memories by taking deep breaths and reading books but still in the end of the poem he expresses his frustration when he finds it impossible to prevent himself from hearing the sounds of guns. “Those whispering guns—O Christ, I want to go out And screech at them to stop—I'm going crazy”. (Sasson, line 37-38). The inability of the poet to continue with his peaceful life after the war is depicted in the poem. Even when he is living in the safety of his house he is petrified by the sound of guns reminding him of the war and its horrendous sights. The life of soldier is full of hardships on the war field and this fact is realized by everybody. But how a soldier suffers even after returning from the war is evident from this poem. The poet is experiencing the after effects of the war in form of haunting war memories which are hampering his efforts to lead a peaceful life. Works Cited Sasson, Siegfried. “Repression of War Experience.” Read Book Online, n. d. Web. 12 Dec 2012. Read More