Mametz Wood

Question 1

who is Mametz Wood written by?

Answer 1

Owen Sheers

Question 2

themes in Mametz Wood?

Answer 2

war, grief

Question 3

context (the poem):

Answer 3

• About the battle of the Somme
• the advance on Mametz Wood formed part of the battle in 1916: the 38th Welsh division was ordered to walk towards the heavily fortified German troops, facing certain death

Question 4

context (Owen Sheers):

Answer 4

• Went to Oxord
• Welsh- born in Fiji
• visited the woods many years before writing this poem and felt the need to write a poem
• struck by the number of poets who fought and died at the Somme

Question 5

structure:

Answer 5

• stanzas all have three lines- highlights the consistency of the churning up of bodies
• free verse- emphasising irony as the soldiers had no freedom
• caesura- creates images of broken skulls

Question 6

“farmers..”

Answer 6

“farmers found”
fricative alliteration
repetitive cycle underscoring how many bodies were found

Question 7

repetition of “blade”

Answer 7

“blade”
underscores sense of threat as blades are sharp weapons
connoting harsh injury

Question 8

“broken bird’s…”

Answer 8

“broken bird’s of a skull”
poignant image
ironic as birds present purity and nature
creates a tone of unsettled emotion

Question 9

“the earth stands..”

Answer 9

“the earth stands sentinel”
personification- a guard for a castle
the earth is guarding peace and ensuring we always remember the horrific war

Question 10

“this morning”/”broken..”

Answer 10

“this morning”/”broken mosaic”
juxtaposition between two images
we cannot bury what we learn from the past
we think of the morning to be crisp- not broken

Question 11

“dance-…”

Answer 11

“dance-macabre”
French folk tale about the dead rising at night to dance around graveyards- highly ironic and employing the idea that we use war as entertainment

Question 12

“absent..”

Answer 12

“absent tongues”
end of poem
they no longer have a voice abstract language