Mametz Wood Flashcards
the impacts of war are shown to be very long lasting, “found them” shows that the soldiers were lost and/or forgotten
For years afterwards the farmers found them
the poet believes that war is a waste
wasted young
continual references to fields shows that war and growing are opposites, heightens the perception of loss
tended the land back into itself
a bone is fragmented showing wars destruction
chit of a bone
the digit is old but also detached from the body showing violence and time passing on
relic of a finger
the human body is shown to be very fragile
china plate of a shoulder blade
this metaphor is used to create imagery of fragile things being destroyed
blown/and broken bird’s egg of a skull
what battle and what war did this relate to
Battle of the Somme in WW1 where dead bodies and shells were being dug up still in 2016
why did so many men die
4000 poorly trained men and were instructed to charge down machine guns so were mown down
the soldiers are treated like school children
walk, not run
juxtaposition of new life and violent death
nesting machine guns
the soldiers are being looked after by mother nature
earth stands sentinel
vague mentions of the past, nothing specific, showing that people do not want to recount the horrors of the past
reminders of what happened
hopeful imagery as over time, everyone heals eventually
like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin
time phrase used to show that the impacts are still felt to this day
this morning
metaphor used to show that something awe-inspiring is also something so sad, life is gone and shattered into a million pieces
broken mosaic of bone
shows comradery between the soldiers
linked arm in arm
the soldiers are doing the dance of death, showing the fragility of life
dance macabre
something that is supposed to break first, are still there showing that the soldiers were killed before their time
boots that outlasted them
the fact that only some soldiers actually have jaws shows that they were subjected to awful violence
and their jaws, those that have them, dropped open
the soldiers have been hidden for a century
As if…only now
soldiers are passive and powerless, they are dehumanised somewhat
slipped from their absent tongues
rhyming couplet gives the idea of a song
sung…tongue
what did Sheers do lots of
interview soldiers to get their POV on war
waht type of poem is Mametz wood
elegy, lamentation on war
what does the form show
the short regular stanza reflect the neatly ploughed fields
