War Poetry Flashcards
Which famous poet wrote ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade?’
Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate.
What are the key ideas for ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’?
The poet is describing a battle he read about in a newspaper. Alfred Lord Tennyson was never a soldier.
Name some methods used in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.
Rhythm (of charging horses)
Extensive repetition
Anaphora
Quote some quotations from ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.
‘Half a league, half a league / Half a league onward’ which uses repetition
‘Not though the soldier knew / Someone had blundered’
‘When can their glory fade?’
Which famous poet wrote ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’?
Wilfred Owen.
What are the key ideas for ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’?
It directly addresses jingoistic poetry (e.g. Jessie Pope) through a visceral description of a gas attack.
Name some methods used in ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’.
Caesura
Range of punctuation
Narrative structure
Quote some quotations from ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’.
‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’ which uses simile.
‘Gas! GAS! Quick[ly], boys! / An ecstasy of fumbling’ which uses a range of punctuation.
‘The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum est’ which uses a Latin quotation.
Which famous poet wrote ‘Base Details’?
Siegfried Sassoon.
What are the key ideas for ‘Base Details’?
It is a polemical against war — specifically, it criticises the Majors’ careless, cruel and heartless attitude to war.
Name some methods used in ‘Base Details’.
Alliteration
First person narrator
Quote some quotations from ‘Base Details’.
‘Puffy petulant face / Guzzling and gulping’ which uses alliteration.
‘And when the war is done and youth stone dead / I’d toddle safely home and die — in bed’ which is a rhyming couplet.
Which famous poet wrote ‘The Send Off’?
Wilfred Owen.
What are the key ideas in ‘The Send Off’?
A description of the soldiers leaving to go to the front line.
Name some methods used in ‘The Send Off’.
Assonance
Personification
Symbolism
Quote some quotations from ‘The Send Off’.
‘Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp / Winked to the guard’ which uses personification.
‘Down the close, darkening lanes their sang’ which uses assonance.
‘Their breasts were struck all white with wreath and spray / As men’s are, dead.’ which uses symbolism.
Which famous poet wrote ‘The Soldier’?
Rupert Brooke.
What are the key ideas in ‘The Soldier’?
The poem is a sonnet wherein the soldier speaker patriotically celebrates his home.
Name some methods used in ‘The Soldier’.
Personification
First Person Narrator
Assonance