Transcript Poetry in world war one

POETRY IN
WORLD WAR ONE
TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF POEMS IN
WORLD WAR ONE
WHY WERE POEMS
IMPORTANT?
During the war the men had very few ways
to express their feelings about what life
was like that could be recorded and sent
home. Many wrote letters about their
experiences but some of the most famous
and well-remembered stories of what life
was like at war came from poems that the
men wrote in their spare time.
These poems serve as reminders to us of
the losses of war but also the horrific
conditions that men were forced to live in.
By reading these poems, we can learn what
life was like and how the men felt about the
war.
FOR EACH POEM …
I want you to highlight the words the tell
you all about what it was like to fight in the
war and words that tell you about the war.
IN FLANDER’S FIELD
BY JOHN MCCRAE
The most famous poem was
written by a Canadian doctor
called John McCrae. He
treated thousands of soldiers
a week and saw many horrific
things, including death,
conditions and injuries. He
wrote the poem In Flanders
Fields after treating one
soldier who had been through
one example of horrible
conditions and injuries.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
THE SOLDIER BY
RUPERT BROOKE
This poem was written by a
journalist called Rupert Brooke. It is
a very famous poem and he wrote it
to appear in the Times newspaper,
not long before he died during the
war. He wrote it based on his
experiences of speaking to soldiers
and hearing the stories of soldiers
who lost their lives during the war.
It is written from the viewpoint of a
soldier who has died, thinking about
the war and how he felt about it.
IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.And think,
this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
YOUR TASK!
I want you to write your own poetry for
World War One.
It must be descriptive and give details
about the war and what it was like fighting
in the First World War.