Route March Rest by Vernon Scannell, Night Raid by Desmond Hawkins, :: English Literature

Route March Rest by Vernon Scannell, Night Raid by Desmond Hawkins, The Battle by Louis Simpson - How do the poets communicate emotional or moving responses to war? What do these poems tell us about wartime life and the thoughts and feelings of civilians and soldiers? How do the poets communicate emotional or moving responses to war? The following essay will try to answer the question above. Using references and quotes from three wartime poems I will explain what they tell us about wartime life and the thoughts and feelings of civilians and soldiers. I will also clarify how the poets communicate emotional and moving responses to the disturbing war. The three poems that will be analysed are: Â · Route March Rest - by Vernon Scannell, Â · Night Raid - by Desmond Hawkins, Â · The Battle - by Louis Simpson. I have selected these poems because they contain both similarity and contrast. These aspects are important in order to produce a high-quality essay as they provide a more balanced view of the poems. Both the contrasts and similarities will be shown to give the reader a clearer overview of the poems. The three poems, as mentioned above, have all been written during wartime and therefore display hatred towards the fighting. However, they demonstrate this dislike using different methods. Vernon Scannell's technique in Route March Rest is important as he uses contrasting images and descriptions to create an overall picture of death and dismay. Scannell does this by initially introducing a scene of harshness using such tough words as "skulls", "thumping", "crunched" and "clanked". He then smoothes the picture out by creating a more calmed and restful atmosphere using such soft words as "silent, cool" and "bright as buttercups". But this is short lived as the marching image is reintroduced and the word "die" is placed at the end. Desmond Hawkins technique in Night Raid is very unique as it is done using completely free verses. At the start, strange characters are introduced which immediately creates anxiety. Harsh sentences such as "If there's a bomb made for YOU, You're going to get it" highlight the feelings of distress and misery present in all of the various people. War is also displayed negatively using this sentence: "She was shivering and laughing and throwing her head back". People would not normally be doing this and so it makes the reader link disease-like behaviour with war. Louis Simpson's technique in The Battle is fascinating as he uses repetition, onomatopoeia, tempo and colours to produce an "anti-war" description. The three poems are similar as they are all about the negative aspects of war, but they differ in terms of