mametz wood Flashcards
mametz wood poet
owen sheers
mametz wood context
welsh poet
mametz wood was scene of fighting in battle of somme - very bloody
welsh soldiers ordered to take over mametz wood
bravery + sacrifice of the welsh was not acknowlegded
mametz wood structure
regular 3 line stanzas - perhaps reflective of the neat pattern of a ploughed field
slightly longer lines - disrupts the pattern symbolic of the parts of the soldiers bodies that appeared in the fields
elegy - reflective
“china plate of a shoulder blade”
fragility of man, comparing a shoulder plate to an everyday object like a China plate could be viewed dehumanising - ease in which the enemies destroyed the army + the lack of acknowledgement they received
“absent tongues”
metaphorical lack of voice + physical loss of tongue, through them being dug up they have been gifted a voice and identity again
“like a wound working a foreign body”
simile comparing the soldiers body to a splinter being forced out of the body - shouldn’t be there mirroring how the soldiers shouldn’t be there. they deserved a proper funeral instead of just being left to decompose + only way to heal is through talking about war
“broken birds egg”
plosive b alliteration - mimics sound of machine guns
symbolic of new, precious and fragile life = ironically juxtaposes the destruction of the body and life
“for years afterwards”
- modern farmers discovering bodies reflective of how tragedies + repercussions of war are eternal in which they are still ongoing now
“mid dance-macabre”
dance of death - soldiers died however they were not prepared for it and neither deserved it.
