WWI & The War Poets

Wow. I read this section of “The War Poets” over the weekend and I kind of wished I wouldn’t have. Reading all of them in one sitting was really depressing.

After class on Monday I was kind of embarrassed by how little I know about WWI. My knowledge about the war was basically narrowed down to Germans on one side British on the other. On the video we watched, they mentioned that the nature of WWI was different from the wars that I am more familiar with. It was based primarily on territory and less on what I think of as human aspects (i.e. treatment of minorities, communism, etc.). Thinking back on my education, I believe that WWII is stressed because of the horrific things that happened to the Jewish people and Vietnam is stressed because it is still in the rear view mirror of our collective memory. Now that I am fully familiar with the devastating nature of WWI, I can definitely see why the poetry coming out of that era is so depressing and at times a bit grotesque.

In talking about the poetry specifically, the grotesque nature was really what caught me off guard (though I loved it). I guess when I think of poetry from that time period I assume it will be flowery and proper and I totally do not expect lines such as Rosenberg’s “A man’s brains splattered on/A stretcher-bearer’s face” (48-49). My favorite poem was actually one of the more disturbing pieces (at least to me), “Dulce et Decorum Est.” by Wilfred Owen. I thought that the image of the soldier “drowning” in gas was really powerful and the idea that Owen was haunted by nightmares of the event, very telling. I also loved the way he used to poem to criticize those who were urging young men of that time period to enlist. I must admit, the poetry that we have studied in the last two weeks is not what I expected and I’m starting to think I may really enjoy this class.