Mametz Wood Flashcards
who wrote Mametz Wood
Owen sheers
what war was this poem about
WWI (the battle of the somme)
how many welsh men died entering the wood
over 4000
4000 men died over how long?
5 days
which welsh division entered the wood
38th welsh division
why did sheers write this poem
to acknowledge the suffer and sacrifice of welsh soldiers. he felt their bravery went unnoticed and was not honoured
what influenced sheers to write this poem (2)
> he was welsh
>he visited the site long after war
what is Mametz Wood about?
the unearthing of 20 skeletons years after WWI at Mametz Wood
3 words to describe war
- wasteful
- unknown
- long lasting
why are regular 3 line verses used
could show the ploughed grass after farmers dug them up
what do small stanzas show
the small pieces of bone that are found ‘a chit of bone’
why is free verse used
to show the random placement of bones
“_____ tongues”
“ABSENT tongues”
“the ______ young”
“the WASTED young”
what does the quote “the wasted young” show about war
the misleading, destructive and pointless nature of war
examples of metaphors
- china plate of a shoulder blade
- broken bird’s egg of a skull
what does the line “china plate of a shoulder blade” imply
imply fragility and vulnerability of the soldier’s bodies and how war destroyed them unnaturally
“the _____ stands ______”
“the EARTH stands SENTINEL”
an example of personification
the earth stands sentinel
what could the change in tense “this morning” suggest
horrors and consequences of war are long lasting and still impactful and relevant to this day
“absent tongues” what could this mean (3)
- lost potential
- lack of voice to share experiences
- war has silenced them (PTSD)
what could the quote “the earth stands sentinel” suggest
- earth watches and protects the soldiers where others failed to
- nature ha snot forgotten them
why is graphic description used
to add shock factor
example of a simile
“like a wound working a foreign body”
what could the line “like a wound working a foreign body” imply
earth is trying to cleanse itself from the trauma of war
“_____ plate of a shoulder ______”
“CHINA plate of a shoulder BLADE”
what could “the china plate of a shoulder blade” tell us about the soldiers
“china” is easily breakable just like the soldiers. quotation implies they have been reduced to the level of an object.
what quote could “the wasted young” link to, why?
“the china plate of a shoulder blade”
reduced to an object which shows their worthlessness (wasted)
