Exposure Quote Analyis Flashcards
(5 cards)
“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
- Nature itself is attacking man - ironic- nature is attacking humans due to the barbaric behaviour of man - part of a divine punishment
- “merciless” - taking no mercy on the men due to the horror they brought to the land
- repeated use of l’s that slows down the rhythm - mimics the “exposure” the soldiers are feeling
“Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”
- Personification of the clouds - weather is arming itself being more well armed than the soldiers facing their enemy
- “massing” - much more dangers from the weather than there are German soldiers in the trenches
- “melancholy” - reflecting the emotions of the men also suggesting nature is miserable, it doesn’t want to harm the soldiers but it feels it has to
“So we drose, sun dozed, littered with blossoms trickling where the black bird fusses - is it that we are dying”
-“ black bird fusses” - even in this memory of spring he’s irritated by the sounds of nature
- “so we drose, sun dozed” - should be a lovely lazy feeling but if you fall asleep here your exposed to threats (freeze to death while sleeping) - nature is being used in a seductive way - it wants soldiers to fall asleep so they’ll die (ironic) perhaps the reason he asks “is it that we are dying” - could also be he’s thinking of happy memories as his brain is letting go
- “littered with blossoms” - seeing the white blossoms (snow) and imagining them as spring flowers - associated with warmth and beauty but he describes them as “littered” descringing them negatively
“Therefore, not loathe, we lie out there; therefore we’re born, for love of god seems dying”
-“ therefore we’re born” - reason they were born is to defend their country - worthwhile sacrifice - patriotism
-“lie out there;” happy to lie out in those conditions because there defending their home - as in lying there is another reason for their patriotic biting soldiers are lying to themselves when they say it’s a worthwhile sacrifice Wilfrido believes dying for your country is disgusting
-“ for love of God seems dying” - love is dying and war is the proof of that if God loved we wouldn’t go to war God would be on our side because he would disapprove in the first place-link to charge the light brigade
“ pause over half known faces all their eyes are ice but nothing happens”
-“half known faces” - literal death of the men they are burying half known and dead - as in they had little time to know them because they died so quickly OR soldiers had been there a long time but deliberately not gotten to know each other so they wouldn’t get any emotional attachment
“ all the eyes are iced” - “eyes” their identities have become ice they are completely unable to feel also their eyes are like ice because their bodies are literally frozen also the people who buried them eyes are also like ice because they are completely unfeeling war has taken away their ability to emphasise
- “ but nothing happens” - death due to the bitter winter is worse than being shot in battle they would prefer to be in a battle then be in the cold, also he’s exploring the reasons for war and why they’re a lie also wants a political solution to happen he wants peace - OR death is preferable to this ongoing suffering wants to die
