Poetry Analysis

‘When You See Millions Of The Mouthless Dead’ by Charlse Sorley is a poem that is notable for the expression of the writer’s experiences during war, Sorley is keen with his unsentimental style that has a similar approach to that off Wilfred Owen. This poem is parallel to Christina Rossetti’s song where she asks her beloved not sig somber songs or even plant roses in her memory as it is with tradition of many. In Sorley’s poem, he urges those that are mourning soldiers who have fallen not to give them praise or even cry for them (Sorley, 1915). If the faces of the fallen soldiers of those that they love appear to them I their sleep, they should learn to ignore.

While Rossetti’s poem is all about conciliation and reassurance, it is quite the opposite for Sorley’s. The poem is stark as well as uncompromising. Sorley is not looking to console the readers because his reasons to discourage us from bothering the dead or praising them are that the fallen soldiers are mere ghosts (Sorley, 1915). He shatters every hope that one could have of their beloved ones watching from afar. He means that our tears and words are foreign to them because they no longer have the sense of humanity (Hussey, 1967). The poem rejects the Christian view of the afterlife and even destroys any hope that we shall see the dead people again.

Unlike other poems that hold a high regard for mourning, Sorley believes that once the dead are feet under, there is no use or no hope for any re-union (Sorley, 1915). The poem’s focus is about the absence of senses- that the dead soldiers have no ability to hear kind words, they can no longer our tears, and they have no way of speaking back. Sorley employs a Petrarchan sonnet and adds slight twist. For example, the two quatrains do not have any rhyming but instead, follow the English Pattern of Rhyming alternate lines (Hussey, 1967). 

Sorley’s poem, ‘When you see millions of the mouth less dead’ is one of the First World War poems that narrate about the experiences of the war. The reason as to why Sorley is straightforward about the way to go about the fallen dead is because of how he feels about the war. His stay in the battlefields made him realizes that there is nothing more to look forward to except for starving to forget about the dead.  The poem reflects a man that has broken down due to the cruelties of the war and such, he is not anticipating for the afterlife because he believes that he has seen it all. He writes, ‘’Say only this, “They are dead.” Then add thereto, “Yet many a better one has died before.” Then, scanning all the o’ercrowded mass, should you, Perceive one face that you loved heretofore, It is a spook. None wears the face you knew (9-13) (Sorley, 1915). As seen above, Sorley uses straight forward sonnet to relay his message. His opening lines do not prepare one for the shock because they are haunting and cold. He makes the image of the nightmare vision of the millions dead personal such that one would be curious to know to Sorley is implying as the audience in the poem. Is he talking to those who are at home and have not come across the horrors of the war? Or perhaps he is implying to the dead soldiers who are in the dream world of the living. 

It is possible that he is reflecting on the Greek myth where there gods of sleep, death, and dreams (Hussey, 1967). Therefore, it means that coming across those who have died in our dreams does not really mean that we should anticipate for any meeting. The use of the sense of interruption of expectation in Sorley writing style is a deliberate way to reflect some sense of horrific insensitivity. All the accounts in the poem illuminates on the fact that Sorley has detached himself from the aftermath of the war. He does not want anything to do with dead soldiers. 

For The Fallen

For The Fallen by Lawrence Binyon, is poem whose central message is to shed light on the sacrifices that the soldiers made in order to honor their country England. In his work, Binyon borrows from the bible where he enforces his literature with words from the book of Genesis: ‘’Flesh of her flesh’’. He reflects Adam’s words where he said that, ‘’this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ (Binyon , 1915). This alludes the relationship that England has with her children. The men are in the battle field putting their lives on the line for the sake of their country. The words, ‘’forever England’’ shows how devoted the men are. 

In the same fashion, the remark about the immortal spheres as well as music being the midst of desolation in the same passage subtly implies that the long time philosophical idea of how music, the sun, the moon, and other planets move around the solar system while producing sublime music (Hussey, 1967). As such, this further points out to sacrifices of the soldiers who died for their country. In the second line of the fourth stanza, the writer states that, ‘Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn’, also eludes William Shakespeare’s Antonio and Cleopatra’s description about how the Egyptian queen does not age (Binyon , 1915). She tends to stand the test of time when it comes to her age. Similar to the biblical as well as the metaphysical allusions earlier in the poem, the grand depiction of the queen relates the soldiers of WWI with two great figures from the past. For example, Cleopatra is a great leader of her people and Shakespeare is one of the greatest English poets (Hussey, 1967). The main tone of the poem is shows some sense of patriotism because of the celebration of those that die in battle for the honor of their country. The fourth stanza emphasizes on the importance of the remembrance.

Unlike other famous war poems, Binyon does not describe how it took place. Instead, he focuses on praising the men who put their lives in line in order to protect the honor of their country. While Sorley’s approach shows that she does not appreciate the war Binyon tends to see the importance of the solders’ sacrifices. He uses heavy allusion to compare the journey of the soldiers. He tends to elude the story of Adam and eve and even Shakespeare’s works. Binyon’s reference to important stories in history shows how much he respects the dead soldiers (Binyon , 1915). When he is describing death in verse two, he shows a sense of reverence as well as admiration for the dead soldiers. He believes that August is a month when the war happened and he also has great hopes for the men fighting in the war.

Throughout the metaphor in the first verse, he gives the picture of England as loving mother and that the soldiers are the children. As such, England prides in the fact that she permitted her children to maintain their country. She also feels the pain when her children die. Another line that describes Binyon’s sympathy and respect towards the dead is verse three where he provides that the soldiers are young and innocent as well. While the soldiers did not understand the gravity of the situation, they went to war with energy, loyalty, and enthusiasm.

In the fourth line, Binyon describes the differences between those who have fallen and those that are still alive. He admires their survival and unlike Sorlely, he urges the readers to remember their enthusiasm and passion of those who died. They did not care about death and they also did not mind their age. Binyon also uses metaphors when he writes that, “the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, to the end, to the end, they remain” (Binyon , 1915). Here, he is trying to show even if they are fallen soldiers; their stars will shine forever because they protected the nation in a time of despair. Binyon uses a different approach about the experiences of the war. He does not ignore the sacrifices but he also does not dwell on the sweet and pain. Instead, he uses his literary text to show how important the soldiers are.

References

Binyon, L. (1915). The Winnowing-fan: Poems on the Great War. E. Mathews. 

Hussey, M. (Ed.). (1967). Poetry Of The First World War: An Anthology. Longmans.

Sorley, C. (1915). When You See Millions Of The Mouthless Dead. Marlborough and other 

poems, 78.