mametz wood

Question 1

overview

Answer 1

Farmers in present day Northern France are discovering the bodies of soldiers who died on the battlefield of Mametz Wood in 1916. The start of the poem describes the violent deaths that the soldiers experienced and then goes on to describe the injustice that the soldiers faced as their sacrifice has been completely forgotten. At the end of the poem, the soldiers are finally remembered due to the discovery of their bodies. Sheers was inspired to write this poem after seeing a picture of the soldiers discovered skeletons arm in arm. The purpose of the poem was to spread awareness about their sacrifice and allow them to be remembered.

Question 2

beginning

Answer 2

• The author continuously presents a very anti-war attitude through the poem. He does this by calling the dead soldiers ‘the wasted young.’ This word ‘wasted’ suggests how Sheers thinks that there was no reason for the soldiers to die. The fact that the soldiers were young emphasises how much time that they could’ve had left to live for but instead it was thrown away.
• The poet then describes their shoulder blade like ‘china’ which suggests how delicate and fragile the soldiers. However, chine is also treasured which suggests that the memories of the soldiers should be valued. This contradicts the stereotypical image of soldiers being hardened and tough by comparing them to something that can easily be destroyed.

Question 3

middle

Answer 3

• The poet describes how they died with the phrase ‘broken mosaic.’ This suggests how the soldiers were blown apart as the mosaic would be scattered similar to the state of the skeletons that were discovered. However, the fact that they are a ‘mosaic’ suggests how the soldiers are like broken art which links to the message of the poem which is that the soldiers deserve to be remembered like beautiful art is.

Question 4

end

Answer 4

• ‘Their skeletons paused mid dance-macabre.’ This suggests that the reason why the soldiers paused their dance was because they died too young and didn’t have a chance to finish their dance. Therefore, they never got to see the potential that their lives similar to the metaphor of the dance. This presents a very anti-war attitude by once again suggesting that their lives were wasted.
• The poet describes how the soldiers song ‘slipped from their absent tongues.’ The word ‘absent’ suggests that they have no tongue and therefore can’t sing anymore. However, now that they have been remembered they can and this creates a sense of justice being restored and lightens the mood of the poem.

Question 5

form & structure

Answer 5

• The rhythm of the poem is inconsistent which suggests how the finding of the soldiers bodies was random.
• All the stanzas except from the last have no rhyme. This suggests that the rhyme occurred only because they were remembered and this links to how they can now sing again.
• In the beginning, Sheer uses plosive language to emphasises how harsh and destructive war can be.