Poetry Anthology - Mametz Wood Flashcards
(11 cards)
Key themes
Loss
Suffering
War
Structure
Free verse - reflects brokenness of the battlefield and the bodies buried with it
Enjambment - soldiers remains are gradually uncovered, buried truths slowly resurface
Key quotes (7)
‘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’
Analyse ‘the wasted young’
‘Wasted’ suggests the soldiers died needlessly
Highlights the futility of the war
Analyse ‘China plate of a shoulder blade’
Metaphor to compare their bodies to delicate China
War reduced strong men into fragile remains
Analyse ‘told to walk, not run’
Lack of urgency or protection - sense of helplessness and obedience
Poor leadership
Shows how the young soldiers followed commands that led them to slaughter
Analyse ‘like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin’
‘Foreign body’ implies the soldiers bones don’t belong hidden beneath the surface
Reinforces the unnaturalness of their deaths
Analyse ‘linked arm in arm’
Unity
Remain connected even in death
Suggests a deep bond was formed through shared suffering
Analyse ‘in boots that outlasted them’
Emphasises the brutality of war
Their clothing outlived them
Fragility of man
Analyse ‘slipped from their absent tongues’
‘Slipped’ implies their death was involuntary
‘Absent tongues’ implies permanent loss of speech
Context
Farmers found the buried soldiers in one long grave linked arm in arm
Battle of Mametz wood was notorious for its high casualty rate