Poetry Anthology - Mametz Wood

Question 1

Key themes

Answer 1

Loss
Suffering
War

Question 2

Structure

Answer 2

Free verse - reflects brokenness of the battlefield and the bodies buried with it
Enjambment - soldiers remains are gradually uncovered, buried truths slowly resurface

Question 3

Key quotes (7)

Answer 3

‘The wasted young’
‘China plate of a shoulder blade’
‘Told to walk, not run’
‘Like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin’
‘Linked arm in arm’
‘In boots that outlasted them’
‘Slipped from their absent tongues’

Question 4

Analyse ‘the wasted young’

Answer 4

‘Wasted’ suggests the soldiers died needlessly
Highlights the futility of the war

Question 5

Analyse ‘China plate of a shoulder blade’

Answer 5

Metaphor to compare their bodies to delicate China
War reduced strong men into fragile remains

Question 6

Analyse ‘told to walk, not run’

Answer 6

Lack of urgency or protection - sense of helplessness and obedience
Poor leadership
Shows how the young soldiers followed commands that led them to slaughter

Question 7

Analyse ‘like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin’

Answer 7

‘Foreign body’ implies the soldiers bones don’t belong hidden beneath the surface
Reinforces the unnaturalness of their deaths

Question 8

Analyse ‘linked arm in arm’

Answer 8

Unity
Remain connected even in death
Suggests a deep bond was formed through shared suffering

Question 9

Analyse ‘in boots that outlasted them’

Answer 9

Emphasises the brutality of war
Their clothing outlived them
Fragility of man

Question 10

Analyse ‘slipped from their absent tongues’

Answer 10

‘Slipped’ implies their death was involuntary
‘Absent tongues’ implies permanent loss of speech

Question 11

Context

Answer 11

Farmers found the buried soldiers in one long grave linked arm in arm
Battle of Mametz wood was notorious for its high casualty rate