Summary:
Poems written during the first half of the twentieth century, such as "O What is That Sound," "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," and "Prayer Before Birth," reflect the issues of the time. These issues included war, revolution, morality, disillusionment, the Great Depression, and the future of the human race, and the three poems analyzed focused particularly on issues of war and morality.
How do the poems of the 1900-1950s section of the anthology reflect the issues of the time"
During the 1900-1950s poets used the issues in that time period with in there poems.
These issues included: World War, revolution, morality, disillusionment, the Past, The Great Depression and the future of the human race.
The two poems, which I will be analysing, are 'O What is That Sound' and 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'. I will investigate how the poems I have selected represent the issues of the 1900s to the 1950s.
In 'O What is That Sound' the issue of war, fear, and betrayal is portrayed within the poem. The idea of war is suggested with the use of description of the soldiers but also their activities, which they are carrying out. The use of colour to describe the soldiers gives them a sinister look. "Only the scarlet soldiers, dear," the colour scarlet is a shade of red, which is a connotation of blood and evil. The weapons, which the soldiers are carrying. "Only the sun on their weapons, dear," The soldiers are carrying weapons which give them a threatening presence. The idea of being superior is suggested.
"Why, they are none of them wounded, dear,
None of these forces."
This suggests that the soldiers are powerful and superior not to get harmed that easily in the face of battle, which adds to the effect of fear and their threatening presence.
The idea of paranoia and fear is bought into the poem by the activities of one of the readers. The repetition of the line "O..." gives the Ballard a dramatic feeling, which suggests paranoia. The paranoid speakers action shows his feeling towards the soldiers. "Why are you kneeling"" this suggests that the speaker is fearful of what might happen which also links the idea of being oppressed in a society with a tyrannical regime which wants you to follow one path only. There is a sense of deception and betrayal with the activities conducted with the other speaker with in the poem. "O where are you going"" "But I must be leaving." This suggests that the person is running away before the soldiers arrive to the paranoid speaker, which does suggest betrayal.
This poem does show some of the issues during the world, like World War, the fear that the Nazis cropped up for the free people of the world but also the attempted genocide of the Jewish race, which could suggest the paranoia of one of the speaker in the poem hiding from the soldiers.
In the poem "Prayer Before Birth" the issue of the future and possible dangers are portrayed within, the poem is telling what sort of world our children could be living in and how can we prevent them from taking a wrong turn.
Conclusion
The conclusion that I have come to from the analysis of the two poems is that the poems found in the 1900s-1950s of the anthology have the reflection of the issues back in the time. Most of the poems in general have war and morality as an issue.
This is the complete article, containing 510 words
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