First World War and the Poetry - Essay Example

The poets of this period reacted in a number of ways to the war. Some of their poems deal directly with war experiences. They spoke about their fortitude and the emotional trauma that they suffered. Some addressed the futility and horrors of the war; while some expressed the loss of loved ones. The woks of poets like Edward Thomas Isaac Rosenberg, and Wilfred Owen illustrate the horrors of the war in great detail. Having a first hand experience of the war as soldiers, these writers understood the meaninglessness of the war.

They realized that other than destruction there is nothing to be gained from the war. They demonstrated the same in their poetry. In Edward Thomas' poetry titled The Owl, the poet illustrates the wretchedness of the aftermath of a war. The soldier is tired, hungry and needs to rest after surviving the war. After having food at the inn, the soldier lays down to rest. But the memories of the war haunt him and he becomes restless. He realizes that war did not bring anything other than destruction and loss of lives of fellow human beings.

This agitation is further heightened by the cry of the owl: The cry of the owl embodies the misery of all the soldiers who lost their lives. The owl seems to be lamenting the death of those who lost their lives. The soldier's awareness of their deprivation awakens a sense of remorse in him: Another of his poems titled The Rain, illustrates how the war can damage one's sense of worth. Feeling solitary amongst the dead bodies that are lying all around, he experiences a void which can never be filled.

He is preoccupied with death which he knows is imminent:"Remembering again that I shall die" (Jon Silkin 91).The deaths have hardened him. There is no love in him. He is: "helpless among the living and the dead" (Jon Silkin 91).He does not feel any pity for the dead. His life as a soldier makes him cynical. He considers death to be a blessed condition rather than be alive with a sense of such worthlessness: "If love it be towards what is perfect and/ Cannot, the tempest tells me, disappoint" (Jon Silkin 91).

Another poet who illustrated the horrors of war is Isaac Rosenberg. His poems deal with the sufferings of the soldiers. He looks at the war from the view point of a soldier. Rosenberg 'painted' what he saw and experienced; his poetry contained the colors of light/shade and the contrasts of night and day of the battlefield landscapes he constructed in his poems. These painted poems also contain a philosophizing about life and civilization. (Trevor Tasker). Isaac Rosenberg's poem Returning, We Hear the Larks shows a soldier's preoccupation with death