SACE Stage Two; English Studies

Poetry Essay

Sarah Kershaw 1205

How did the similarities and differences between the poets you studied this year give
you a greater appreciation of the common issues they present?
Poetry has always been seen as a useful outlet for writers to express their ideas. War
poets, Bruce Dawe and Wilfred Owen, use numerous poetic techniques in their poetry to
convey their shared beliefs on the horrors of war, whilst William Shakespeare and John
Donne use theirs as a means of communicating their views on love. In his poetry, William
Blake uses poetic techniques to explore the theme of oppression of the masses. Each poet
has adeptly used the devices of their art to present important issues to their readers.
In their poems Homecoming and Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dawe and Owen use visual
imagery to emphasise the horrors of war, however in Dulce Et Decorum Est, Owen
expresses the same idea, but through aural imagery. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, Owen uses
alliteration to describe the soldiers as knock-kneed. This produces a slightly discordant
feel; making it unpleasant for the reader, whilst also allowing them to empathise with the
soldiers. In the first stanza, Owen also talks of how the men began to trudge back to
their camps. This use of the onomatopoeia trudge allows the reader to picture the walk
back to be muddy and horrible. In Homecoming, Dawe uses personification to intensify
the feeling of sorrow in his readers at the loss of young soldiers lives, as even the noble
jets are whining like hounds. Dawes repetition of the word day throughout his poem
is also a useful technique in showing the true nature of war. It gives the reader the feeling
that the war is never going to end and more and more bodies are going to be brought
home in green plastic bags. Owen opens Anthem for Doomed Youth with a rhetorical
question which likens the deaths of soldiers in war to that of cattle in a slaughterhouse.
The rhetorical question is confronting and forces the reader to reflect on the soldiers
sacrifice and emphasises how poorly repaid they are for it. This has a powerful impact on
the reader, as it effectively communicates their quick, merciless and unrecognised deaths.
Both poets effectively used their poetry as a means of communicating to the people at
home the horrors of war.
In the poems A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning and Sonnet 130, John Donne and
William Shakespeare, respectively, use varying techniques to make their readers question
the nature of love. Donne, in his poem, compares the love of dull sublunary lovers to
that of his and his wifes. He explains, using enjambment to emphasise his point, that
earthly lovers cannot bear to be parted from each other because their relationship is based
on sense (the five senses), and therefore if they separate they remove from each other
the very basis of their love. In comparison, Donne states that the love he and his wife
share is pure; they have two joined, but separate souls which allow them to be apart from
each other. Metaphysical conceit is used to reinforce this idea; Donne suggests that his
wife is the fixt foot of a compass and that he can rome far from it, but we will always

[come] home. This is completed with the image of the circle which makes [Donne]
end, where [he] begunne. In Sonnet 130, Shakespeare explains to the reader his view on
love, as he felt that most love poems of his time presented unrealistic depictions of what
real love was. The first line of the poem makes the reader think it will be a satirical
look at love, as Shakespeare negatively uses a simile to emphasise that his Mistres eyes
are nothing like the Sunne. However as the poem continues, it becomes obvious that
Shakespeare is using ironic humour to enhance his point that the love presented in most
love poems is unrealistic. Shakespeare gives realistic descriptions of his mistress for most
of the poem, but in the last two lines he shows what true love is. Whilst his mistress may
not be as beautiful as the women described in other love poems, he knows [his] love as
rare because she is unique. Thus, both Donne and Shakespeare use their poetry to show
their respective readers that love presented in poems and other literature is not always
real.
William Blake uses two of his poems, London and The Garden of Love to show the
suffering and oppression of the less privileged. In London, through the personification of
the blackning Church letting hapless Soliders blood run down Palace walls, Blake
emphasises how severe the suffering of the innocent is. He juxtaposes the traditional
definition of a Church, with one that allows men who fight for their country to die. The
repetition of every in the first two stanzas is also used by Blake to show how the
oppression of the people on the streets of London by a higher power, is a universal
feeling. The Garden of Love also uses the Church to illustrate oppression of people. Blake
uses the synecdoche of a small Chapel to represent the Church of England, which has
thou shalt not writ over the door. This is Blake criticising the church for rebuking its
people and not showing them any love, which the poet expresses through an allusion to
the Ten Commandments. Imagery of the gravestones outside the chapel being bound
with briars is also utilised by Blake to show suffering. Here, the traditional image of
flowers lining a grave is replaced by a thorny branch that pricks anyone who touches it.
Therefore even visiting a dead loved one, which should bring peace, actually brings
suffering and pain. By utilising a series of poetic devices, Blake is able to demonstrate to
the reader how those in privileged positions oppressed those less fortunate than them.
Through their poetry, these poets have been effective in making me reflect upon several
issues. Dawe and Owen skillfully made me understand the horrors of war, and question
its need in the world, whilst Shakespeare and Donne helped me realise that the love often
presented in film is not real love. However William Blakes poems had the most effect
on me; his two poems gave me an awareness that those in a in a privileged position
should do more to help those who are less privileged.

Word Count: 1040