World War I Poetry
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World War I Poetry
Contents
Overview for teachers ............................................................................. 3
Lesson overview .................................................................................... 4
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Featured poets ...................................................................................... 10
Lesson 1: The start of World War I ............................................................... 11
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Lesson 2: Propaganda and recruitment .......................................................... 17
Lesson 3: The call-up .............................................................................. 22
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Lesson 4: At the front .............................................................................. 27
Lesson 5: The horror of war ....................................................................... 34
Lesson 6: Camaraderie ............................................................................. 39
Lesson 7: Soldiers of the Empire ................................................................. 46
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Lesson 8: On the home front ...................................................................... 53
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Assessment .......................................................................................... 60
Answers .............................................................................................. 62
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World War I Poetry
Overview for teachers
This World War I teaching pack focuses on the key elements of war poetry, while building KS3
students’ core reading, writing, oracy and analytical skills, and well as their understanding of
poetic language, form and structure. It includes a range of tasks to build students’ unseen
poetry analysis skills and crucially their confidence with poems, through discussion and
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collaborative reading tasks.
You’ll find some of the most celebrated war poems to share with students, as well as others
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representing a diversity of voices and alternative views of the war. The pack also includes
extracts from letters and soldiers’ diaries, as well as photographs and propaganda posters to
develop students’ understanding of the context of the war.
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This pack is aimed at year 7-9 students, and includes a range of differentiated activities, with
stretch and challenge extension activities as well as more supportive, scaffolded resources.
It works like a complete scheme of work for a term, and includes eight lessons, with starter
activities followed by a series of five or six lesson activities, with embedded formative
assessment tasks, learning checks and low-stakes quizzes. There are also extension and
homework suggestions for each lesson. The pack culminates in a summative assessment task.
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Suggested answers for all relevant activities are included for self or peer marking in class or to
support the teacher with marking.
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The pack is student-facing for classroom use, but you will find a set of teaching ideas and
suggestions on pages 6-9.
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About the writer
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We would like to extend our huge thanks to Teachit contributor Jill Carter for writing this
teaching pack.
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Jill is a former Leader of English and Advanced Skills teacher who now works freelance as
an educational author, blogger and online tutor. She has written a wide range of secondary
English textbooks and digital resources, and has nearly 30 years’ experience as a teacher of
English.
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World War I Poetry
Lesson overview
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Lesson Theme Learning objective or outcomes Poem/s Skills focus
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Research skills
‘The Armed Liner’ by
The start of Henry Smalley Sarson Summarising and dual-coding skills
1 To understand the context of World War I.
World War I ‘The Troop Ship’ by Oracy/discussion skills
Isaac Rosenberg
Writing skills (diary)
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To understand the role of propaganda in
recruiting soldiers in the war. Performance skills
‘Who’s for the
Propaganda and
2 To identify and comment on the effect of Game?’ by Jessie Writing skills (analytical paragraph)
recruitment
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persuasive devices. Pope
Unseen poetry analysis
To identify and explore the effect of rhyme.
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Comparative analytical skills
To identify a range of poetic features and ‘Recruiting’ by E.A.
3 The call-up Reading comprehension skills
compare two poems. Mackintosh
Writing skills (persuasive)
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Discussion and oracy skills
‘Futility’ by Wilfred Reading comprehension and analysis
4 At the front To understand the brutality of war.
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Owen
Writing skills (poetry and explanatory
writing)
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World War I Poetry
To understand and explore the effect of Poetry analysis
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language and structural techniques in poetry. ‘Anthem for Doomed
The horror of
5 Youth’ by Wilfred Research skills
war To apply your knowledge to a World War I Owen Vocabulary skills
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poem.
To understand the context of life on the front ‘First Time In’ by
line. Ivor Gurney
Reading skills (skimming and scanning)
6 Camaraderie To analyse the tone and message of a poem.
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‘To Sister E.W.’ by
Analytical skills
To identify and comment on the effects of a Henry Smalley
range of poetic devices and features. Sarson
To understand the contribution to the war of Persuasive language analysis
Soldiers of the soldiers from other countries. ‘The Gift of India’ Vocabulary and decoding skills
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Empire by Sarojini Naidu
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To develop students’ confidence with Discussion skills and oracy
decoding challenging new vocabulary. Research skills
To explore the context and impact of the war Performance reading skills
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at home and on women’s lives. ‘August 1914’ by May Reading comprehension skills
On the home To identify and comment on structure and Wedderburn Cannan
8 Comparative analysis skills
front poetic features, including symbolism. ‘Spring in War-Time’
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by Sara Teasdale Discussion skills
To compare how different poets present ideas
and feelings. Writing skills (letters)
To compare the ways in which different poets
present their ideas and feelings about war. ‘The Owl’ by Edward Comparative analysis skills
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OR Thomas Exam skills
Assessment
To explain how a poet presents ideas and ‘In Flanders Fields’ Unseen poetry analysis
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feelings about war. by John McCrae Reading comprehension skills
To develop students’ analytical writing skills.
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Lesson 4: At the front
Lesson 4: At the Front
For many men, fighting in the war meant being sent to the trenches in France where
i a new kind of warfare had developed.
Starter activity 1: Discussion
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Look closely at the following images of World War I soldiers from a range of countries and
discuss them with a partner.
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What do you notice about the conditions and the environment in which the soldiers lived and
fought? Note down three things, to share with the class, which you think would have made
warfare difficult:
1.
2.
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3. ...............................................................................................................
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Lesson 4: At the front
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Lesson 4: At the front
Activity 1: Reading and language analysis
The conditions of the war were horrifying. Read the following extract from a letter that one
famous war poet, Wilfred Owen, wrote to his mother in January 1917.
‘I can see no excuse for deceiving you about these last four days. I have suffered
seventh hell. – I have not been at the front. – I have been in front of it. – I held
an advanced post, that is, a "dug-out" in the middle of No Man's Land. We had
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a march of three miles over shelled road, then nearly three along a flooded
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trench. After that we came to where the trenches had been blown flat out and
had to go over the top. It was of course dark, too dark, and the ground was not
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mud, not sloppy mud, but an octopus of sucking clay, three, four, and five feet
deep, relieved only by craters full of water . . .’
What were some of the hardships he had to endure?
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What do you notice about the language of this letter? Which elements of language suggest the
writer is a poet?
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Activity 2: Quick comprehension
Many soldiers did not die in the fighting but died because of the conditions they lived in. The
cold was a particularly important factor in many deaths.
On the next page, read an elegy (a poem about death) by Wilfred Owen, one of the most famous
World War I poets. As an officer in the army, he had direct experience of being in the trenches.
The poem is about a soldier who died in the night from the cold. You can also hear it being read
here: youtu.be/CM_OK2VFlE8.
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Lesson 4: At the front
a. What time of day is it in the poem? d. What job might the
soldier have done
back home? Which
phrase makes you
think this?
b. What words or lines ‘Futility’
suggest that the
Move him into the sun—
soldier is dead?
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields half-sown.
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Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
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The kind old sun will know.
e. What does the poet
Think how it wakes the seeds— say about the sun
Woke once the clays of a cold star. (‘it’) at the start of
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides
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the second stanza?
c. Why does the speaker Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?
of the poem suggest Was it for this the clay grew tall?
that they ‘Move him —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
into the sun’? To break earth's sleep at all?
Wilfred Owen
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Glossary
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futility − pointlessness, uselessness toil − work extremely hard
rouse − wake someone fatuous − pointless or silly
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f. Rewrite each stanza in your own words.
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Compare your answers in pairs. Be prepared to feed back to the class.
Activity 3: Pick and mix challenge
On the next page are seven questions about the poem which are different in terms of their level
of challenge. Choose one question from each challenge category (green , blue , pink ) to
answer in pairs. You will answer three questions in total:
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Lesson 4: At the front
a. What is the tone of this poem? Which word b. The soldier is unnamed and referred to as c. Does the speaker really believe the sun might
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would you choose to describe its tone: ‘him’. Why do you think Owen chooses to use revive the soldier? Why else might he order
sorrowful woeful melancholy sad this pronoun rather than giving him a name or that the soldier be moved into the sun?
mournful puzzled angry even referring to him as ‘the soldier’? Support: Think about the soldier’s earlier life and
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Explain your choice, using the following sentence about how the speaker seems to feel about the
starter: The tone of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Futility’ soldier and his death.
is …
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d. The sun is personified. Select three quotations e. In the second stanza, the poem moves away f. Owen uses an unusual form of rhyme in this
which show this: from the soldier to a wider question. What is poem known as half-rhyme or pararhyme. These
the poet asking in this stanza? How does the are words which almost rhyme. Find two
poet feel about war and death? examples of half-rhymes from the ends of the
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Support: Consider the title of the poem. lines.
What effect does this have?
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g. How might the half-rhymes be interpreted? h. How does the poet feel about war and death? i. The poet contrasts cold with warmth in the
Select one interpretation from the list below poem. Find relevant quotations. What is the
and explain your choice: effect of this symbolism?
• Because the poet feels sad and defeated, he
uses half-rhymes to mirror his attitude to war.
• The half-rhymes reflect the speaker’s dark and
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dispirited thoughts.
• The speaker does not see war as neat and clear
– it is confusing and bewildering.
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Lesson 4: At the front
Activity 4: Prose into poetry
Here is an extract from a World War I diary, Diary of a Dead Officer, written by A.G. West and
published after his death.
Wednesday September 20th, 1916
‘… A whistle would be heard, nearer and nearer, ceasing for a mere fraction of a
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second when the shell was falling and about to explode. When was it coming?
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Men cowed and trembled. It exploded and a cloud of black reek went up – in the
communication trench again. You went down it; two men were buried, perhaps
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more … The trench was a mere undulation of newly turned earth, underneath
it lay two men or more. You dug furiously. No sign. Perhaps you were standing
on a couple of men now … A boot, a steel helmet – and you dig and scratch and
uncover a grey, dirty face, pitifully drab and ugly, the eyes closed …’
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‘… I shall always remember sitting at the head of this little narrow trench,
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smoking a cigarette and trying to soothe the men simply by being quiet. Five or
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six little funk-holes dug into the side of the trench served to take the body of a
man in a very huddled and uncomfortable position, with no room to move,
simply to cower into the little hole. There they sit like animals for market,
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like hens in cages, one facing one way, one another. One simply looks at his
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hands clasped on his knees, dully and lifelessly, shivering a little as a shell
draws near …’
Extract from Diary of a Dead Officer: www.bl.uk/collection-items/diary-of-a-dead-officer
Using this extract, choose some of A.G. West’s most powerful or affecting words to write a
stanza or a poem about these men’s experiences of the war. It doesn’t need to rhyme or have a
regular structure.
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Lesson 4: At the front
You could begin like this:
Like hens in cages, they huddled.
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Working with a partner, compare your poems with the diary. Which do you think has more
impact and why?
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Activity 5: Persuasive writing or speech
Do you think ‘Futility’ is a good choice of poem for Remembrance Day? You could consider the
fact that remembrance means to keep something in mind. Explain your ideas.
Support: You could begin your short speech or persuasive writing like this:
In my opinion, ‘Futility’ is an excellent / inappropriate choice of poem for
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Remembrance Day because ...
Challenge: include ideas about the wider questions related to peace that this poem provokes.
You could use the phrases ‘On one level this poem is about ... but on another level it encourages
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us to consider ...’
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Homework or extension
Using the diary and letter extracts from this lesson as your starting point, imagine you are a
young solider on the front, far from home and loved ones. Write your own letter home.
You could continue Wilfred Owen’s letter from where it ends, or, if you prefer, imagine A.G.
West’s diary entry is a letter home and continue it in letter form.
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Answers
Activity 4: Exploring informal language
‘Who’s for the Game?’ ‘Recruiting’
contractions like ‘who’ll’ contractions like ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’
‘sit tight’ ‘Lads’
‘toe the line’ ‘the Hun’
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‘give his country a hand’ ‘damned well know’
‘won’t be a picnic’ ‘poor devils’
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‘up to her neck in a fight’ ‘blasted’
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The poets use this kind of language because their poems are aimed at ordinary people who might
join up or might know men who could join up. The informal language creates a conversational
style that everyday men and women would be able to relate to and this would help to convey
the message of the poems more effectively.
Lesson 4
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Starter activity 1: Discussion
Students might have noticed some of the following points which would have made warfare
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difficult:
• There is a huge amount of mud, and it looks wet and cold, which would be difficult to fight
in and might affect the soldiers’ health.
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• There is debris and barbed wire everywhere, which would be dangerous and difficult to
move around in.
• Soldiers might get lost or disorientated as there are no visual landmarks and everywhere
looks the same.
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• There are no roads, so moving food, equipment and weapons would be difficult.
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• There are no buildings, so no shelter or places to rest. It looks like an awful place to have
to live.
• The places where soldiers are sleeping look unsafe, particularly if there are bombs
dropping.
• The soldiers’ uniforms look unsuited to extreme weather etc.
Activity 1: Reading and language analysis
Owen had to endure long and difficult marches. The road was ‘shelled’ and the trench was
‘flooded’. He had then had to ‘go over the top’ in the dark onto very dangerous ground − the
land was made up of ‘sucking clay’ and ‘craters full of water’.
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Answers
The writer uses techniques in his writing which suggest that he is a poet. He uses the powerful
metaphor ‘seventh hell’ to sum up his experience. Owen includes repetition − ‘dark, too dark’
and ‘not mud, not sloppy mud’ − to reinforce the point he is making about the conditions. He
also uses the metaphor ‘an octopus of sucking clay’. This creates an image of the mud wrapping
itself around the men’s legs and pulling them under.
Activity 2: Quick comprehension
a. It is morning in the poem.
b. ‘Always it woke him … Until this morning’ and ‘Are limbs … are sides … too hard to stir?’.
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c. It is possible that the speaker wants him to be moved into the light and the warmth because
he has died in the cold and the dark. Perhaps the speaker almost hopes it will revive the
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soldier.
d. The soldier might have been a farmer: ‘whispering of fields half-sown.’
e. The speaker says that the sun brings the seeds to life.
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f. Stanza 1: Let’s move him into the sun which always woke him until now − if anything can
help him the sun will know. Stanza 2: The sun brings everything to life but this precious body
can’t be revived. Why did the sun bother to bring the planet to life if this is the result?
Activity 3: Pick and mix challenge
a. The tone of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Futility’ is mournful because the poet feels sad that the
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solder has died and he can’t fully accept the waste of such a young life.
b. Owen uses ‘him’ instead of naming the soldier because so many men died in this way; the
soldier is representative of many soldiers. He may avoid the word soldier because he wants
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to present the young man as a person rather than a soldier.
c. The speaker may make this order because he wants the soldier to be outside in the sun and
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fresh air as he would have been when he was a young farmer.
d. ‘Gently its touch’; ‘the kind, old sun’; ‘sunbeams toil’. The effect of the personification is
that the sun seems alive and like a kindly friend.
e. The poet is asking what the point of life is if people are just going to wage war and die.
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f. ‘sun/sown’; ‘once/France’; ‘seeds/sides’; ‘star/stir’.
g. Suggested answer: I would choose the last interpretation because war is often messy and
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unclear and the soldier’s death from the cold has left the speaker/poet feeling sad and
bewildered.
h. The poet feels that war is pointless and leads to unnecessary deaths.
i. ‘sun’ and ‘snow’, ‘cold star’, ‘still warm’. The effect of this symbolism is that warmth
represents life and hope but the cold represents death and absence of life.
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