English War Poetry Year Group: 8

Poem Summaries Themes Key Vocabulary

1 The Soldier This is a sonnet in which Brooke glorifies England during WW1. He speaks as an English soldier 1 Honour Young soldiers going to
Rupert Brooke as he is leaving home to go to war. The poem represents the patriotic ideals that characterised War were Patriotic and
1 Symbolism Using symbols to signify
pre-war England. were doing this for their qualities and ideas by giving
country. It was an them symbolic meaning
Who’s for the Game? Her representation of war is describing war as being fun and full of glory! Pope suggests in the honourable thing to do. beyond their literal sense.
2 Jessie Pope poem that a young man who could go to war would be very courageous.
2 Suffering The true reality of War
and what the soldiers
2 Satire Using humour and irony to
3 Dulce et Decorum est
Wilfred Owen
This is a poem about the horrors of war as experienced by a soldier on the front lines of WW1. were faced to do at War.
expose to criticise
The speaker depicts soldiers trudging through the trenches, weakened by injuries and fatigue. The horrible experiences
Suddenly, the men come under attack and must quickly put on their gas masks. something. Used to show
they went through.
the reality of War, it wasn’t
Loss of Soldiers going to War what everyone expected.
Does it Matter? The poem shows a negative way of war, describing feelings and thoughts soldiers go through 3
4 innocence were young and naïve.
Siegfried Sassoon once they finish their service. The poem emphasises society’s feelings towards the soldiers Everything about their 3 Propaganda Misleading or biased
who have suffered from war. youth was drained and information to promote a
taken away. political cause or point of
Suicide in the Trenches Sassoon is actually criticising the loneliness, health conditions, patriotism and also the lack of view. Used to get soldiers
5 Siegfried Sassoon to go to War.
resources that the soldiers faced while they are in the trenches. He also explains the
selflessness and the love for the country of a soldier. Context
4 Pathos This is language that evokes
1 WW1 World War One took feelings of pity or sorrow.
6 Futility Futility describes an event where a group of soldiers attempt to revive an unconscious soldier place between 1914-1918. Something we may feel
Wilfred Owen by moving him into the warm sunlight on a snowy meadow. However, the "kind old sun" Soldiers thought the War reading War poetry.
cannot help the soldier - he has died. would be over by
Christmas and did not
War Girls expect the realism and 5 Enjambment The continuation of a
7 War Girls is one of the first poems that highlights the work done by women in the war. Each of
Jessie Pope brutality they faced. sentence without a pause
the girls the poet describes are doing a job that has traditionally been done by a man; ticket
beyond the end line.
collectors, elevator operators, milkmen - all of these roles have belonged to men. Propaganda Propaganda was employed
2 Enjambment in these
on a global scale. This was poems can represent
8 Perhaps (To R.A.L.) A poem dedicated to Vera's late fiancé, Roland Leighton. There is continuous repetition of the used to mobilise hatred for something about War.
Vera Brittain term 'Perhaps' at the start of each stanza. Brittain is expressing the uncertainty yet possibility the enemy and force young
behind her ever feeling the way she did before. people to War.
6 Patriotism Devoting yourself to
support your country.
9 The Gift of India The poem is a tribute to the contribution of Indian soldiers in World War I. Over one million Feeling national pride and
Sarojini Naidu Indian soldiers from the British Indian Empire served in the Allied forces in the First World 3 Shellshock World War One became
love for your nation.
War. known as ‘The Great War’,
it was the War ‘to end all Sonnet A poem consisting of 14
Anzac
7
10 John Le Gay Brereton
“Anzac” describes an honourable and noble soldier or a survivor of the Great War who is wars’. Soldiers suffered lines that usually consists of
mourning and remembering his fellow brothers in arms. shellshock through the 10 syllables per lines. A
destruction and devastation sonnet is typically a love
caused. poem.