Module 6 Discussion: Poetry as a Primary Source

The horrors of the First World War, trenches, poison gas, and the totality of destruction, awakened something new in art, literature, and poetry. Men and women from both sides returned from the front lines and found that writing about their experiences made them easier to comprehend. Literature, poetry, and music written during or about World War I have become part of the collective consciousness of the nations involved in the war. Novels like All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque) and A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway) were based on the authors’ first-hand experiences on the front lines. The song “No Man’s Land” by Eric Bogle, though written in 1976, was inspired by the singer’s visit to a WWI cemetery in France.

The poetry of World War I is particularly evocative and emotional. At the start of the war, many of the themes were triumphal, rowdy, and eager (see the verse below, from “Men Who March Away,” by Thomas Hardy, 1914)[1] as millions of men volunteered to defend Britain and France.

In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just,
And that braggarts must
Surely bite the dust,
Press we to the field ungrieving,
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just.

However, as the conflict dragged on and the realities of industrial trench warfare became clear to those on the front and at home, poetic themes became much more subdued, cynical, and desperate. Men on the front lines tried to use their writing to explain what they had seen and many asked a simple question: why did this happen?

Poetry from World War I has been used as a symbol of pacifism and anti-war sentiment and as a way to honor those who died. In this discussion exercise, you will read excerpts from three poems written in 1915, 1917, and 1918, respectively. You will then choose one of the poems to analyze and discuss with your classmates.

Step 1: Read these three excerpts from poems written during World War I, as well as the information about their authors and contexts.

“In Flanders Fields” By John McCrae (1915) “Dulce et Decorum Est” [GRAPHIC] By Wilfred Owen (1917) “And There Was a Great Calm” By Thomas Hardy (1918)
In Flanders fields,
the poppies blow
Between the crosses,
row on row,
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn,
saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved,
and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.		 Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest, To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”)

 There had been years of Passion—scorching, cold,
And much Despair, and Anger heaving high, Care whitely watching, Sorrows manifold,
Among the young, among the weak and old, And the pensive Spirit of Pity whispered, “Why?”So, when old hopes that earth was bettering slowly
Were dead and damned, there sounded ‘War is done!’
One morrow. Said the bereft, and meek, and lowly,
‘Will men some day be given to grace? yea, wholly, And in good sooth, as our dreams used to run?’Breathless they paused. Out there men raised their glance
To where had stood those poplars lank and lopped, As they had raised it through the four years’ dance
Of Death in the now familiar flats of France; And murmured, ‘Strange, this! How? All firing stopped?’Calm fell. From Heaven distilled a clemency; There was peace on earth, and silence in the sky;
Some could, some could not, shake off misery:
The Sinister Spirit sneered: ‘It had to be!’ And again the Spirit of Pity whispered, ‘Why?’
Background & Context

“In Flanders Fields” was written by Canadian physician John McCrae while he was stationed in Belgium. McCrae spent 17 days tending to the wounded at the Second Battle of Ypres, where the German army used poison gas for the first time. The poem was published in the UK and led to the adoption of the poppy as the symbol of remembrance for war dead. McCrae died in 1918 in a French hospital after contracting pneumonia. He was 45 years old.

 Background & Context

Wilfred Owen was a Welsh soldier who enlisted in 1916. “Dulce et Decorum Est” was written about an incident where his battalion waded three miles through a freezing, flooded trench, only to be hit by poison gas. From 1917-1918, Owen wrote all of his poems while hospitalized due to a head injury. Owen hoped to publish a book showing “the pity of War,” rather than the “glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power,” but in the fall of 1918 he returned to the front lines. He was killed in action one week before the Armistice was signed, at age 25.

 Background & Context

Thomas Hardy was a prolific British poet and novelist. His works were known for their melancholy, almost pessimistic themes on war, human nature, and history. Although he was never on the front lines, Hardy’s work often dealt with world events and he took a particularly dim view of the destruction that the Great War brought to Europe, once stating that “I do not think a world in which such fiendishness is possible to be worth the saving.”

Step 2: Select one of the poems for an in-depth analysis. Copy and paste the worksheet table below into a new document and answer the questions: For the poem you chose, complete all three of the following steps:

  1. Paraphrase: “Translate” the poem into your own words, using 3-4 sentences minimum (you can use more if you need to).
  2. Connotation: Analyze the meaning of the poem beyond literal meaning. Is the author implying anything? Is there an underlying message? Summarize in 3-4 sentences.
  3. Attitude/Tone: What is the overall mood of the poem? Dark? Happy? Angry? Give 2-3 descriptive words or phrases, then justify your choices in 2-3 sentences.

Step 3: Now that you have analyzed your poem, pick ONE of the following prompts to answer. Post your response in the discussion forum along with your analysis answers from Step 2:

  1. Write a reflection based on your reading of the poems. How do you think reading these poems would have changed the perspective of an average American citizen who read them in 1919, immediately after the war ended, if at all? Has reading and analyzing these poems changed your perspective on World War I? If so, how? If not, why not? Support your response with evidence and examples from the text.
  2. Imagine that you are fighting during WWI and have met the poet who authored the poem you chose. Write a letter back home describing your conversation with the poet.
  3. Write your own poem about WWI.
  4. Pick another poem from WWI and contrast that with the one you highlighted in Step 2.

Step 4: Return to the discussion forum to comment on at least one classmate’s post.

Rubric

Criteria Developing Satisfactory Excellent Points
Responds to prompt Response is superficial, lacking in analysis or critique. Contributes few novel ideas, connections, or applications. Provides an accurate response to the prompt, but the information delivered is limited or lacking in analysis. Provides a thoughtful and clear response to the content or question asked. The response includes original thoughts and novel ideas. __/4
Supporting Details Includes vague or incomplete supporting evidence or fails to back opinion with facts. Supports opinions with details, though connections may be unclear, not firmly established, or explicit. Supports response with evidence; makes connections to the course content and/or other experiences. Cites evidence when appropriate. __/2
Comments and participation Provides brief responses or shows little effort to participate in the learning community. Responds kindly and builds upon the comments from others, but may lack depth, detail, and/or explanation. Kindly and thoroughly extend discussions already taking place or poses new possibilities or opinions not previously voiced. Response is substantive and constructive. __/4
Total __/10
  1. Thomas Hardy.“Men Who March Away.” Poetry Foundation. Accessed December 2, 2021. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57195/men-who-march-away. ↵