Describe Modernist British Poetry During World War I (Essay Sample)

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Modernist British Poetry During World War I
Modernism is said to be the art consequent on the disestablishing of communal reality and conventional notions of the wholeness of individual character, on the linguistic chaos that ensues when public notions of language have been discredited and when all realities have become subjective fictions.
It is the art consequent on Heisenberg’s ‘Uncertainty Principle,' of the destruction of civilization and reason in the First World War, of the World altered and reinterpreted by Darwin, Freud, and Marx, of capitalism and frequent industrial acceleration of existential exposure to meaninglessness and absurdity. (Bradbury and McFarlane 27).
A number of poets rise into prominence during the First World War majoring on modernism. This paper aims to view some of these poets with regard to Bradbury and MacFarlane’s definition of modernism.
Sigfried Sassoon is one poet who entirely agrees with the definition. In his poem “The Redeemer,” he presents a scenario where, as a result of his experience in war, he is separated from the civilian world and is unable to rejoin it. The poem separates the soldier and the civilian. The soldier, according to Sassoon, does not deem himself at home, rather, he is quick to point out differences between those in England and himself:
When peaceful folk in beds lay snug asleep;
There, with much work to do before the light
We lugged our clay-sucked boots as best as we might
Along the trench; sometimes a bullet sang. (Sassoon LL 3-6).
The civilian otherwise referred to as “peaceful folk” no longer shares the same experiences as the soldier. Later on in the poem, Sassoon makes a comparison between a soldier and Christ:
No thorny crown, only a woolen cap
He wore—an English soldier, white and strong, . . .
That Lancaster on Lune may stand [secure]. (Sassoon LL 19-27).
The soldier as a redeemer is quite English, but his Englishness is not in line with his reality. This concurs with what Bradbury and MacFarlane say about modernism. According to Sassoon, the soldier’s Englishness depends on the soldier’s self-sacrifice in order to survive. A few months later on the front, the poet’s optimistic blending of the trenches and the home front morphs into hopeless isolation. In separating the soldier from the civilian, Sassoon presents the world which is essentially at odds with itself. Towards the end of the poem, a soldier flings “his burden in the muck, /mumbling: O Christ Almighty, now I’m stuck!” (Sassoon LL 35-36). The poet, just like the soldier, is stuck: he cannot see any future beyond the trenches.
In his poem “The Happy Warrior,” Herber Read shows how he hates war through his clear description of killings and brutality in war:
His wide eyes search unconsciously,
He cannot shriek,
Bloody saliva,
Dribbles down his shapeless jacket,” (Read LL 4-7)
This description of war is horribly vivid. Use of words such as “bloody,” “Shriek” and “shapeless” portray the sense of disgust the speaker feels about the war. The image depicted in line 6 is that of a beastly animal with bloody saliva dripping down its mouth. In this portrayal, Read suggests inhumanity. He views war as primitive and barbaric. Read uses a reflective tone which reveals his intended sarcasm at the end of the poem. Although his description can be termed shocking, the poem’s ending is quite sarcastic:
I saw him stab . . .