War poetry
War poetry essay
Before going further into this essay, ask yourself this: What is the purpose of an legacy? Why is it important for the next generation to inherit things from the past? All these questions popped up in my mind as I was analysing War Girls by Jessie Pope. It’s not like we can do anything about it, and knowing it won’t really do anything to me. But I spoke too soon.
The idea of the poem War Girls is that women wanted to be accepted by society. By men. Before war, women were always looked down upon and worth less than men. History discusses that women were treated less equal than men. But the poem provokes the idea and teaches us that women are in fact capable of working for and like men. This poem is a 4 stanza poem, with the pattern of 4 6 4 6 lines. The rhyme scheme is very unusual; A B A B C C D E E D. The A B A B section of the poem always introduced the readers with women doing men-like job, which seems normal to us now but was very unusual back in the days. C C D E E looks deeper into the minds of the women, and finally the second D which ends with the same lines: “Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.”
There were many literary devices I found in this short poem. Starting off with the most powerful imagery I stumbled upon, “No longer caged and penned up,”. Obviously they weren’t literally caged or penned up, but this gives us an idea that the women were in fact treated like pets/animals. At last, the reputation seen from every two stanzas, “Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.”. What does this mean to the women? First of all, the khaki soldier-boys represent British soldiers because they wore khaki coloured uniforms to war. I looked at these three lines specifically.
“No longer caged and penned up,
They're going to keep their end up
Till the khaki soldier boys come marching back.”
Until the soldiers come back. I thought women wanted equality and freedom, but men doesn’t allow that. Yet, they want the soldiers to come back. “Keep their ends up”, what position against misfortune are the women in? Surely, they have to work extra to fill in the mens spots, but in a bigger scale, the misfortune they are put in is the inequality. Look at the next following lines as well:
“But a solemn statement this is,
They've no time for love and kisses
Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.”
Although women may be treated like trash and they understand that, they still love their husband, significant other, family. “They’ve no time for love and kisses” because they are busy working AND the men are gone. But just from that line it tells me that they still want to be loved and want to love.
My poem is based on stories I’ve read on the internet which connects to my theory of War Girls, which is love. My poem is about a women who had her husband go to war. She waited and waited for his back but he never came back. Eventually she lost her feelings for her and hooks up with another guy. I have 4 stanzas, and used the simple A B A B system, with one obvious repetition from each beginning, “I miss you”. The first 3 stanzas, the lady still loves the husband, but by the 4th stanza “I miss you” have changed into “I missed you”, past tense meaning she was over him. But how does this connect to War Girls you may ask. I agree, the connection may be a little small but as i discussed in the second body paragraph, I believe that the women wanted to love men.
“Maybe a sad fable
But all I hear is my crackled scream”
This part of my poem is the most critical part of the transition. I used the term “sad fable” because not only it rhymes with table, but because fables generally uses animals as characters in their story. And in War Girls I have analysed that the women were treated like animals as well. Fables also teaches you morals, and by sad fable I meant she must face the truth and supposedly it was teaching the women how not to act in such situations. I wanted the “crackled scream” to be an imagery where its not her physically screaming, but her emotions and her inner demon screaming in pain.
Now back to my original question. What is the purpose of an legacy? Why is it important for the next generation to inherit things from the past? Learning old stuff may be very boring. Like history textbooks for example, no one reads them out of joy and honestly it’s not suppose to be fun. But it’s something we should learn because it helps us understand changes and how the society we live in came to be. Exactly! It is important to learn things from the past, and through this project I learned that the easiest, and the best way to learn something is by making it fun and interesting. I had a lot of fun making the poems and analysing it, and i think the enjoyment part of it helped me understand the history better.
The idea of the poem War Girls is that women wanted to be accepted by society. By men. Before war, women were always looked down upon and worth less than men. History discusses that women were treated less equal than men. But the poem provokes the idea and teaches us that women are in fact capable of working for and like men. This poem is a 4 stanza poem, with the pattern of 4 6 4 6 lines. The rhyme scheme is very unusual; A B A B C C D E E D. The A B A B section of the poem always introduced the readers with women doing men-like job, which seems normal to us now but was very unusual back in the days. C C D E E looks deeper into the minds of the women, and finally the second D which ends with the same lines: “Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.”
There were many literary devices I found in this short poem. Starting off with the most powerful imagery I stumbled upon, “No longer caged and penned up,”. Obviously they weren’t literally caged or penned up, but this gives us an idea that the women were in fact treated like pets/animals. At last, the reputation seen from every two stanzas, “Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.”. What does this mean to the women? First of all, the khaki soldier-boys represent British soldiers because they wore khaki coloured uniforms to war. I looked at these three lines specifically.
“No longer caged and penned up,
They're going to keep their end up
Till the khaki soldier boys come marching back.”
Until the soldiers come back. I thought women wanted equality and freedom, but men doesn’t allow that. Yet, they want the soldiers to come back. “Keep their ends up”, what position against misfortune are the women in? Surely, they have to work extra to fill in the mens spots, but in a bigger scale, the misfortune they are put in is the inequality. Look at the next following lines as well:
“But a solemn statement this is,
They've no time for love and kisses
Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.”
Although women may be treated like trash and they understand that, they still love their husband, significant other, family. “They’ve no time for love and kisses” because they are busy working AND the men are gone. But just from that line it tells me that they still want to be loved and want to love.
My poem is based on stories I’ve read on the internet which connects to my theory of War Girls, which is love. My poem is about a women who had her husband go to war. She waited and waited for his back but he never came back. Eventually she lost her feelings for her and hooks up with another guy. I have 4 stanzas, and used the simple A B A B system, with one obvious repetition from each beginning, “I miss you”. The first 3 stanzas, the lady still loves the husband, but by the 4th stanza “I miss you” have changed into “I missed you”, past tense meaning she was over him. But how does this connect to War Girls you may ask. I agree, the connection may be a little small but as i discussed in the second body paragraph, I believe that the women wanted to love men.
“Maybe a sad fable
But all I hear is my crackled scream”
This part of my poem is the most critical part of the transition. I used the term “sad fable” because not only it rhymes with table, but because fables generally uses animals as characters in their story. And in War Girls I have analysed that the women were treated like animals as well. Fables also teaches you morals, and by sad fable I meant she must face the truth and supposedly it was teaching the women how not to act in such situations. I wanted the “crackled scream” to be an imagery where its not her physically screaming, but her emotions and her inner demon screaming in pain.
Now back to my original question. What is the purpose of an legacy? Why is it important for the next generation to inherit things from the past? Learning old stuff may be very boring. Like history textbooks for example, no one reads them out of joy and honestly it’s not suppose to be fun. But it’s something we should learn because it helps us understand changes and how the society we live in came to be. Exactly! It is important to learn things from the past, and through this project I learned that the easiest, and the best way to learn something is by making it fun and interesting. I had a lot of fun making the poems and analysing it, and i think the enjoyment part of it helped me understand the history better.
War Girls
By Jessie Popes
There's the girl who clips your ticket for the train,
And the girl who speeds the lift from floor to floor,
There's the girl who does a milk-round in the rain,
And the girl who calls for orders at your door.
Strong, sensible, and fit,
They're out to show their grit,
And tackle jobs with energy and knack.
No longer caged and penned up,
They're going to keep their end up
Till the khaki soldier boys come marching back.
There's the motor girl who drives a heavy van,
There's the butcher girl who brings your joint of meat,
There's the girl who cries 'All fares, please!' like a man,
And the girl who whistles taxis up the street.
Beneath each uniform
Beats a heart that's soft and warm,
Though of canny mother-wit they show no lack;
But a solemn statement this is,
They've no time for love and kisses
Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.
And the girl who speeds the lift from floor to floor,
There's the girl who does a milk-round in the rain,
And the girl who calls for orders at your door.
Strong, sensible, and fit,
They're out to show their grit,
And tackle jobs with energy and knack.
No longer caged and penned up,
They're going to keep their end up
Till the khaki soldier boys come marching back.
There's the motor girl who drives a heavy van,
There's the butcher girl who brings your joint of meat,
There's the girl who cries 'All fares, please!' like a man,
And the girl who whistles taxis up the street.
Beneath each uniform
Beats a heart that's soft and warm,
Though of canny mother-wit they show no lack;
But a solemn statement this is,
They've no time for love and kisses
Till the khaki soldier-boys come marching back.
Nothing Lasts Forever
By Isshin Midorikawa
I miss you,
Remember when I held your hand
But you let it go
To fight for your homeland
Not knowing you will come back, oh
I miss you,
I imagine your face
How I want to kiss it softly
And stroke it in grace
I just want you back, badly
I miss you
I sit alone at the dinner table
Thinking maybe this is just a dream
Maybe a sad fable
But all I hear is my crackled scream
I missed you
In my dark room, in my bed
Still wondering if you are alive
But my emotions are dead
As I satisfy my sex drive