War literature, wider reading key poems and quotes.

• "you cant believe that troops 'retire', when hells last horror breaks them and they run" - shows the divide between the soldiers and the homefront. The people at home have no idea about the realities of the war. Can be linked to Paul Nash' letter "Fighting for those who never want the war to end".
• "you make us shells" the women are supporting the war, big buisnesess and factories benefitted from the war.
• Uses the repetion of the word "you" to make the poem accusatory towards the women.
• "You listen with delight to tales of dirt and danger, fondly thrilled" shows the fical attitudes of some of the women at home.
• "O, German mother, dreaming by the fire, knitting socks to send her son, whos face is trodden deeper in the mud." Shows the fact that the war is impacting on both sides of the enemy. Shows that people at home saw the war in an un-realistic way. This links to the poem 'I killed him because' and the quote "I shot him because- because he was my foe". The Ceasura used here shows the soldiers uncertainty as to why they are fighting. If the men were not fighting each other, perhaps they would be friends, they are enemies because they are told to be.
• This can also be linked to the negative views which are shown about the Generals who lead the war. An example of this can be found in the play 'oh what a lovely war' "The loss of say another 300,00 men could lead to really great results"

• "The rich dead"
• "Dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold" - Young men enlisted in a mood of exhileration, they did not know the reality of what they were doing. This links to 'Six young men' and 'MCMXIV'
• "They brought us from our dearth...Honour has come back" - this shows that the poet is saying that before the war, the mens lives had no meaning, now that they have been fighting they have honour. War gives nobility.
• Brooke uses capitalised abstract nouns "Holiness, Love and Pain"
• "Poured out the red sweet wine of youth" Red symbolises the blood of the men who have died at war. The Verb 'Poured' symbolises the mens willingness to sacrifice themselves for the war.
• This poem contrasts with Sorley's 'When you see the millions of the mouthless dead'. Sorley has the opposite opinion to Brooke. He belives that no good comes from dying, once you are dead, your gone. "It is easy to be dead, say only this, they are dead"

Forshadows what is going to happen in the future. The roman numerals used in the title are forshadowing the numerals which will be used on the memorials for the furture dead.

• "Standing as patiently...asif waiting outside The oval or Villa park" - this quote shows that the men really have no idea about what they are enlisting themselves into. They are stood as if they are going to watch sport, not enrol in the war. This also shows that war and death have no regard for the class of the people enrolling. The oval-Rich men to watch cricket. Villa Park- more common football ground. This links to 'Six young men' "All trimmed for a sunday jaunt", the men don't understand.
• "Those long, uneven lines" the word 'long' shows how many men were willing to sacrific themselves. The word 'uneven' represents the disorginisation of the battle field as a result of the unorginised leaders and generals. Again, refer to 'Oh what a lovely war'.
• The poem represenst the gap between the soldiers and the homefront. "The bleached, established names on the sunblinds" this oxymoron shows the difference. The once established names in the community are being forgotton by the people on the home front.
• "Called after Kings and Queens" this shows that people at the the time were patriotic, they wanted to fight for there country.
• "And the countryside not caring" this is shown a lot in war poetry, Nature always contiunes no matter what happens with regards to the war. This can be linked to the poem 'Six Young Men' and the quote "Bilberried banks.....Which are there yet and not changed"

• "Six young men, familliar to ther friends" this immediatly makes the poem more poignant to the reader, the men are friends, they fought together, so therfore they have died together. The 'Six' represents the fact that to the generals and the men in control, the men are simply a number. Links to 'oh what a lovely war' "The loss of say another 300,000 men could lead to really great results".
• "This photograph have not wrinkled the faces or the hands" this shows the sacfrifice that the men have given. They will never be able to reach old age, they will always be 'young'.
• "faded and ocre tinged" the photgraph is aging, but the men are frozen in time. This can be linked into Sorleys untitled sonnet, were he suggests that the dead are completly cut off from the living.
• "All trimmed for a sunday jaunt" this shows the young boys naiveity, they have no idea what they have let themselves in for. Can be linked to MCMXIV.
• "One lowers his eyes.....one ridiculous with cocky pride-six months after this picture they are all dead". Nice images of the men are presented, they are doing things that any young man would do, this is undercut by the use of Ceasura, which cause a dramatic pause, and then leads on to saying the men are now all dead.

• The repetition of the phrase "This one" when refering to the men, shows that this death could happen to anybody, this shows the huge scale of the war. It links in to the impersonal relationship which exsisted between the soldiers and the men in charge.
• Hughes presents the boys as innocent "potting at tins in no-mans land". This shows that the boys are still the young men they were, but they have been placed in un-natural settings, which have caused there death. This also shows the sacrifice they have given.
• Continuing nature is also presnted in this poem "Billberried bank.....which are there yet and not changed". This is also shown in MCMXIV"And the countryside not caring".