Comparison - The Soldier and A Wife In London Flashcards
How is the theme of war similar in A Wife in London and the Soldier?
A Wife in London:
‘the street lamp glimmers cold’ - oxymoron represents life and death. The lamp is the wife waiting for her husband and shows her giving up hope and consider the fact that he is dead.
The Soldier:
‘If I should die think only this of me’ = solider is already thinking about dying - relates to war but is more patriotic
How is the theme of relationships similar in A Wife in London and the Soldier?
A Wife in London;
‘new love’ = shows the new relationship the husband and wife would have had if he had not died and shows him wanting to start love afresh after he is united. ‘Love’ is an emotive language that refer to the deep, intense attachment felt between husband and wife which will be renewed or rediscovered.
The Soldier:
‘gave once her flowers to love, her ways to roam’ = personifies England as a powerful female figure. A semantic field of creation was shown through words such as ‘bore’ or ‘shaped’ - the speaker feels love for England and he is fighting for what gave him life = his country - shows it as having great admiration for England - patriotism
How is the theme of death similar in A Wife in London and the Soldier?
A Wife in London:
‘his hand whom the worm now knows’ - alliteration of ‘h’ makes a whispery sound - reflects the wife’s grief and fondness of her husband. The plain and straightforward imagery shows the horrors of war and the impacts on not just the soldiers but their families too. The assonance of ‘now knows’ reflects the grief further.
The Soldier:
‘a richer dust concealed’ - soldier refers to himself as ‘dust’ = connotations to cremation and death and repetition of ‘dust’ shows death is inevitable BUT it shows that whoever dies for England receives an ‘English heaven’, showing that the ones who died in war will gain afterlife which is peaceful and rewarded for the commitment towards his country
