Exposure Flashcards
‘Merciless iced east winds that knive us’
personification - nature is seen as an enemy/villain and shows relentless manner in which nature attacks the men - extended metaphor of man vs nature
violent image
sibilance reflects the sound of the wind and the extent of their exposure
links to own experiences as a real life WW1 soldier who wrote about own experiences of life in the trenches
ABBAC rhyme scheme in all stanzas reflect how their situation was unchanging and they were stuck in a cycle
the bold statement of this first line shows the reality of the situation
the poem is also autobiographical
influenced by Keates
ellipsis emphasises monotony of war
‘Since not otherwise can kind fires burn; nor ever sun shine true on child’
unusual syntax shows how war has corrupted every part of the soldier’s life (including language)
turn from positive imagery to negative - mocking tone
to believe in God’s love is naïve after war and it mocks religion and questions God’s loving nature and his faith - disillusionment - used to work in a Church
pararhyme used reflects soldier’s uneasiness and discomfort
‘fire’ - life? - link to him being killed in combat a week before the end of the war (Dulche et Decorum est)
‘But nothing happens’
repetition - emphasises that war achieves nothing
indefinite pronoun - futility of war - anti-climax
theme of hopelessness
last line of poem shows boring nature of life in trenches after build up of tension in previous lines and emphasises the pointlessness of war as they cannot even be considered heroes
contrasts abstract nature of poem as it continues - driven to insanity but still know that war is pointless?
anti-war poem
cyclical structure
