Mametz Wood Flashcards
How does sheers present the effects of war in mametz wood
Leaves scars of both soldiers and the land itself
Unlike traditional war poetry sheers focuses on aftermath of battle, showing how nature uncovers the forgotten sacrifice of soldiers
Context
Battle of Somme 1916 - Welsh soldiers suffered heavy losses due to poor leadership
- bodies were left undiscovered for decades, only resurfacing as farmers ploughed the land
- sheers is not a war poetry and he explores the impact from a modern perspective
- focus of memory, history and land
‘The wasted young turning up
under their plough blades’
‘The wasted young turning up under their plough blades’
Poem presents land as something that remembers war even when humans forget
‘Wasted young’ suggests pointlessness of war, highlighting how soldiers were sacrificed
‘Turning up’ implies land is revealing their forgetting story, as if nature itself remembers their suffering
‘A chit of bone, the china …
… plate of a shoulder blade’
‘A chit of bone, a china plate of a shoulder blade’
Sheers portrays soldiers as delicate and broken, contrasting w traditional images of strength
‘Chit of bone’ implies something small and insignificant shows how war reduces men to mere fragments
‘China plate’ compares bones to delicate porcelain, reinforcing the vulnerability of soldiers
‘A chit of bone, a china plate of a shoulder blade’ compare to dulce
‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’ - also presents soldiers as weak and broken
Owen focuses on suffering and sheers focuses of rememberance
‘The earth stands ….
…sentinel’
‘Reaching
Back into itself’
‘The earth stands sentinel, reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened’
Personification of ‘earth stands sentinel’ implies nature is a guard to watch over the fallen soldiers
‘Reaching back into itself’ - suggests land is trying to recover but past keeps resurfacing, showing wars impact
‘The earth stands sentinel, reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened’ compare to dulce
‘Under a green sea, I saw him drowning’ Owen uses nature as a tool of suffering as sheers presents nature as a force of remeberance
‘Broken birds egg of…
…a skull’
‘Broken birds egg of a skull’
Sheers shows how war leaves behind physical and emotional scars even after fights have ended
‘Broken’ permanence showing how war destroys life and cannot be undone
‘Birds egg’ symbolises fragility and lost potential, linking to youthfulness of dead soldiers
‘Broken bird egg of a skull’ link to dulce
Owen shows mental scars through soldiers nightmares where as sheers shows war physical remains
Conc
Sheers presents war as something that never truly disappears with the land as a witness to history
Poems delicate imagery and focus on fragility highlights how war wastes young lives
