Mametz Wood Flashcards
Who wrote ‘Mametz Wood’?
Owen Sheers
When was ‘Mametz Wood’ written?
2005
What was is described in ‘Mametz Wood’?
WWI
Which battle is described in ‘Mametz Wood’?
Battle of the Somme
What nationality is Owen Sheers?
Welsh
Who does ‘Mametz Wood’ describe?
38th Welsh Division
farmers
Who were the soldiers in ‘Mametz Wood’?
38th Welsh Division
finish the quote : ‘for years…
…afterwards the farmers found them’
How many soldiers died at Mametz Wood?
4000
How did Sheers come about writing Mametz Wood?
visited site on 85th anniversary to produce a short film on 2 authors who wrote about their experience
When did Sheers visit Mametz Wood?
on 85th anniversary
Why did Sheers visit Mametz Wood?
produce a short film about 2 Welsh authors who wrote about experience
finish the quote : ‘the wasted….
…young’
finish the quote : ‘turning up….
…under their plough blades’
finish the quote : ‘under their…
…plough blades’
What does the poem ‘Mametz Wood’ look like when turned vertical?
a ploughed field
finish the quote : ‘they tended…
…the land back into itself’
finish the quote :’a chit of…
..bone’
finish the quote : ‘the relic…
…of a finger’
finish the quote : ‘the china plate…
…of a shoulder blade’
finish the quote : ‘the blown…
…and broken bird’s egg of a skull’
What is a relic?
body part /belonging of saint
How does Sheers use religious imagery?
‘relic’
elevates soldiers
presents them as martyrs
finish the quote : ‘all mimicked…
…now in flint’
finish the quote :’breaking…
..blue in white’
finish the quote : ‘across this field…
…where they were told to walk not run’
finish the quote :’towards…
…the wood’
finish the quote : ‘nesting…
…machine guns’
finish the quote : ‘the earth stands…
…sentinel’
finish the quote : ‘reaching back….
…into itself’
finish the quote : ‘reminders of…
…what happened’
finish the quote : ‘like a wound…
…working a foreign body’
finish the quote : ‘to the surface…
..of the skin’
finish the quote : ‘this morning…
….twenty men buried in one long grave’
finish the quote : ‘twenty men buried…
…in one long grave’
finish the quote : ‘a broken…
…mosaic’
finish the quote : ‘bone linked…
…arm in arm’
finish the quote : ‘their skeletons paused…
…mid-dance macabre’
finish the quote : ‘in boots that…
..outlasted them’
finish the quote : ‘their socketed heads…
..tilted back at an angle’
finish the quote : ‘socketed…
…heads’
finish the quote : ‘tilted back…
….at an angle’
finish the quote : ‘their jaws…
…those that have them’
finish the quote : ‘dropped…
…open’
finish the quote : ‘as if the….
…notes they had sung’
finish the quote : ‘have only now….
…with this unearthing’
finish the quote : ‘slipped from…
….their absent tongues’
When was the Battle of the Somme?
1916
Why did Owen Sheers want to give a voice to the soldiers?
never really acknowledged by public or authority
What is the significance of the title?
simplistic
militaristic
replicates operation or mission
What is the significance of the land uses following the war?
agricultural and mining industries significant to Welsh men
Give a quote from Sheers about this poem
‘strange juxtaposition of its natural present against its too unnatural past’