Wwi Cass

I: So Rupert, you’ve written your poem, The Soldier in England, shortly after the outbreak of World War I, how did you develop your ideas for the poem?

Rupert (R): Well, when WWI was declared, England came together in celebrating and all the men of England rushed to enlist to sacrifice their lives to our motherland and become the hero of England. These exciting reactions inspired me to create this poem, to spread the significance of WWI.

I: How about you Julie, your scene was very thought provoking in portraying the antiwar ideas of the Vietnam War and its American perception. What triggered you to do this?

Julie (J): It’s definitely very different to WWI in England; the Vietnam War is the longest War, with 3 million people brutally killed and effected. Also, as the first ever televised War, the Americans were confronted by the real scenes of War at their kitchen table! Antiwar protestors aroused, thus, government propaganda prevailed, discarding the real horrors of War and displaying the heroic American soldiers. These complications sparked my thoughts to raise awareness of the brutal reality of the Vietnam War.

I: I see, well those are two contrasting contexts and motives. So back to you Rupert! I’ve noticed that the overall tone of your poem is very optimistic – completely opposite to what people perceived WWI as. What was the motive behind the use of this tone?

R: Well, as I’ve noted before, my whole poem elucidates the glory and necessity of the Great War with depiction of my nationalistic ideas and strong devotion to sacrifice my life for our motherland. I’ve employed alliteration of ‘f’, creating sibilance to increase the gentle tone, manifesting the idea of remarkable deaths at War as a sacrifice for our beloved, England. Also, while the metaphor “richer dust” conveys the idea of the enhanced quality of the foreign soil by a buried English solider, the use of comparison to a treasure supplements to the notion of how much invaluable gift the persona had given back to England with his sacrifice at War. Here, I have also added Biblical allusion-