World War One Essay

World War One. Most consider it to be one of the most tragic events in the history of our world. From the horrific scenes on the battlefield to the awful living conditions in the trenches, these young men lived through it all. Siegfried Sassoon and John McCrae wrote great poems describing the “Great War” and how horrible it really was. Suicide in the Trenches and In Flanders Field fantastically display the tragedy of World War One using language features and structural elements. Suicide in the Trenches is a well written poem that describes how horrible the war really was. It takes us down the story of a young soldier who ends up killing himself due to how awful the war was. In Flanders Fields tells the story of how the dead soldiers who once were living want you to remember them. The tragedy of War World One can be evidently shown throughout these two poems.

Throughout the poem “Suicide in the Trenches the tragedy of World War One is put on full display in Sassoon's poem. “In winter trenches, cowed and glum, with crumps and lice and lack of rum” (Sassoon, 2008, 13) Sassoon does a great job painting a picture for the reader by using words like “cowed” “glum,” “crumps” and “lice” Using these disgusting descriptive words he creates a atmosphere of how the trenches really were. “No one spoke of him again.” This further presents how tragic the war was as young men would end up killing themselves because of how horrible it was. This helps Sassoon really display the atrocities of war by using many descriptive and gruesome words that could hit home with the reader. It also helps the reader understand what more these young men had to endure. It also displays the tragedy of the World War as these soldiers not only had to go fight in a war but they also had to endure all the awful things in the trenches such as disease. This would mean the would kill themselves and not even dying on the battlefield. Sassoon does a great job of using different types of language features such as metaphors and similes. “The hell where youth and laughter go.” (Sassoon, 2008, 16) Using metaphors and similes really helps the reader relate to the text. The last stanza uses direct address. This helps the poem really hit home with the reader as it is almost as if this is a conversation with someone, which could really help the reader relate to the story.. Furthermore, the rhyming type in this poem is rhyming couplets. This is a AA then BB format. This creates more of an uplifting tone in the writer which does not match the overall theme of the poem. The writer could’ve used this to portray the propaganda that came in World War One. This propaganda was so tragic as it would send young men to war not knowing how bad it was. Ends with an end stop line display the end of the stanza, also helps create drama. Which helps the reader pace their reading and feel the tragedy within the writer's piece. “The hell where youth and laughter go.” (Sassoon, 2008, 13) This relates the war to a living hell. This metaphor helps the writer really describe the horrors of having to go to war. This poem is in the context of World War One and it says “Trenches” trench warfare was used more in World War 1.

The poem In Flanders Fields Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae does a great job at fully portraying the tragedies of World War One. “We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.” (McCrae, 2008, 16) The line “Loved and were loved” really helps further display the tragedy of war as it humanizes the dead soldiers. These men were: fathers, sons and husbands . They had wives, children, parents and they had to go die in the war McCrae does a fantastic job of displaying the tragedy of World War One in this line. Furthermore, he almost explains how the soldiers feel after dying. John McCrae really depicts how horrible this war really could be and how it affected others. These men had families that they were taken away from in the name of the country to go die in a war. McCrae uses different language elements to help further explain the tragedy of World War One. The entire last stanza is a direct address to the reader to make sure that the reader remember us soldiers who have died for you. The rhyming type in these poems is rhyming couplets with statements at the end of the stanzas . The writer could be using this to really drive the point of remembrance; help it sit with the reader and further display the tragedy of World War One Uses of an end stopped line to help further increase suspense; helps hit home with the reader. This helps display the tragedy of World War One by making sure the reader knows the overall point of this story; we sacrificed for you now remember us. “Between the crosses, row on row that mark our place; and in the sky” (McCrae, 2008, 16) This helps further show the reader how tragic World War One was by displaying the massive graveyards of sometimes unmarked crosses. This poem has become one the most famous war poems in Canada and is recited and rehearsed every Remembrance Day in Canada. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was a medic in the First World War and ended up dying due to pneumonia.

Both of these writers wrote fantastic pieces of writing to display the tragedy of World War One; they both do it in their own ways. Sassoon writes Suicide in the Trenches in a more outsiders point of view or maybe someone who has been to the war and is no longer in the line of duty, possibly on leave. This is evident in this quote. “I knew a simple soldier boy”. He is talking about a person he knew or the person that is the main character throughout this story. John McCrae writes his piece like someone who is on the front lines. “ That mark our place; and in the sky.” When he uses the word “our” he is clearly stating him and his fellow soldiers. This helps him show the tragedy of his work as you can see how he is clearly there and feeling all the emotion in the poem. Comparing the structural and language features of these two pieces, Sassoon wrote in a rhyming couplet format and John McCrae did as well. The slight difference is that McCrae had short statements at the end of his stanzas such as “and now we lie In Flanders Field” (McCrae, 2008,16) Both poem’s end stanzas are direct address. This helps the writer make sure the reader remembers the main theme or message of the poem. Both poems display the point of view of the soldiers to help the reader imagine how the war really was.

In conclusion, the two writers in their own way write fantastic stories displaying the horrificness and tragedy of World War One. Sassoon’s poem takes us right inside the trenches and portrays what the soldiers really had to go through; they could end up killing themselves just due to the conditions and mental states they were in. McCrae’s poem makes sure that we know the sacrifices these soldiers made for our country and ourselves. The tragedy of World War One was supposed to be the “World to End Wars” and to never be repeated again… Until it happened again