Poetry in the Modern Period
Rupert Brooke
Rupert Brooke published a book of war sonnets early in World War I that earned him the reputation of being a talented young poet. A Cambridge University graduate, the dashing young man joined the Royal Navy just as World War I began. During his training, he wrote the book of sonnets that included the poem "The Soldier." He saw only one battle in his tenure as a soldier; he contracted blood poisoning en route to a military campaign in Turkey and died at sea. His body was buried on an Aegean Island far from his homeland.
Access and read the poem "The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke. What predictions can you make about this poem based on the title? As you read the poem, try to paraphrase the speaker's main ideas. How would you describe the tone of the poem?
"The Soldier"
War poetry of the early 20th century varied in tone from patriotic to disillusioned. Rupert Brooke's poem "The Soldier" focuses not so much on war itself but on the homeland of a fallen soldier. This poem can inspire readers who are fellow soldiers and console loved ones of the fallen. In this interactivity, click each of the questions to learn more about "The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke. Click the player button to begin.
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Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon enlisted in the army days before England declared war on Germany in World War I. After training, he went to France where he was an infantry soldier who saw many battles. He received the Military Cross for bravery after being wounded several times. His experiences in wartime lead to a shift in his mindset from patriotism to pacifism. He protested the war in a letter to a commanding officer, but rather than being dismissed from the military or court-martialed, he was treated for shell shock and later sent back to war. Sassoon survived the war and lived until 1967. His experiences at war found their way into his writing long after the end of the war.
Access and read the poem "Dreamers" by Siegfried Sassoon. As you read the poem, consider how the attitude and beliefs of the speaker. Are they similar to or different from those of the speaker in "The Soldier"? What message do you think the speaker of "Dreamers" is giving to his readers? Identify specific quotations from the poem that would support your answer.
"Dreamers"
Siegfried Sassoon's poem "Dreamers" reflects the disillusionment commonly felt among soldiers who faced battle in what sometimes seemed like a senseless war. "Dreamers" takes the reader into the trenches of war and into the minds and hearts of the soldiers who fought there. In this interactivity, click the stanzas to learn more about the poem "Dreamers" by Siegfried Sassoon. Click the player button to begin.
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Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen was killed in action at the age of twenty-five, just a week before the Armistice. In fact, his parents were celebrating the end of the war and subsequent return of their son when they received notice of his death. During Owen's lifetime, only five of his poems were ever published, but today he is considered to have written some of the best poetry of World War I. All of his war poetry was written between August 1917 and September 1918. The poem you are about to read, "Dulce et Decorum Est," depicts a march that occurred on January 12, 1917. His early letters home suggest that he was patriotic and idealistic, but the brutal effects of war quickly took their toll on him and his writing, as evidenced in "Dulce et Decorum Est," a poem that reflects on the grim realities of war.
Access and read the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. Before you read the poem, you should be aware that it depicts a gruesome death (or near-death) of a soldier attacked with toxic chlorine gas. The title comes from a Latin line from the Roman poet Horace. The entire Latin line is dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, and it means "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country." Before reading, consider what you know about the poet and the circumstances of his poetry. Based on these reflections, predict how that line might fit with the poem.
"Dulce et Decorum Est"
War has been a reality since the beginning of human civilization. However, warfare in the 20th century saw destruction on a scale never before seen due to the use of new technologies. It was during World War I that chlorine gas was first used as a chemical weapon against enemy soldiers fighting in trenches. Without the protection of a gas mask, the toxic gas would injure the lungs of soldiers who were exposed to it, often with lethal consequences. In Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," the speaker brings the to light the gruesome reality of warfare. Take a moment now to explore his poem. Click the player button to begin.
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Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas was born and raised in Wales. While attending school, he excelled in literature but struggled greatly in most other subjects. He dropped out of school at the age of sixteen. By the time he was twenty, he had already composed over half of his writings. Unlike many other poets of the era, his writing focused on inward struggles rather than social or political issues.
Access and read the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas. One of Thomas's most famous poems, "Do Not Go Gentle" is exemplary of his experimentation with language, sound devices, and imagery. As you read the poem, take note of the consistent rhyme scheme, use of repetition, and figurative language.
"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
The most famous poem of Dylan Thomas is "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." The poem's attitude toward facing inevitable death and its popular refrains have inspired countless songs, films, and literary works. Take a moment now to explore this poem in closer detail. In this interactivity, click each of the tabs to learn more about the poem. Click the player button to begin.
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William Butler Yeats
Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1865, William Butler Yeats (pronounced as "yayts") is today considered to be one of the greatest poets of the English language. He had a deep interest in the history, mythology, and heroes of the Irish people as well as a fascination with the Gaelic language. His intense pride for his Irish heritage and his devoted support for Irish people led him to become one of the pioneers of the Irish Literary Renaissance and the Celtic Revival. In 1923, Yeats became the first Irishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature due to his accomplished and inspiring poetry.
Access and read the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats. Before you begin reading the poem, think about symbols and their purpose in poetry. In this poem, the most obvious symbol is the ancient capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium. Yeats once said of the city, "Byzantium was the center of European civilization and the source of its spiritual philosophy, so I symbolize the search for spiritual life by a journey to that city." As you read the poem, keep an eye out for other symbols and consider what they might represent.
"Sailing to Byzantium"
"Sailing to Byzantium" by one of the most famous poems by William Butler Yeats. The first line of the poem inspired the title of the novel and subsequent film adaptation "No Country for Old Men," which won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2007. In this interactivity, click the NEXT button to explore "Sailing to Byzantium" in further detail. Click the player button to begin.
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T. S. Eliot and the Avant-Garde
T. S. Eliot was born in the United States and later adopted England as his home. He was such a talented poet that today both America and Britain lay claim to him. He is perhaps best known for the poems "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "The Wasteland," both of which are often studied and anthologized. Eliot is known for his complex and sometimes confusing style, his reflections on the modern world, and his theme revolving around the alienation and disillusionment that one feels as a result of living in the modern world. In 1948, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
As you might have noticed, most of the poems you have studied so far in this course contributed new developments in form and structure on a small scale, but you have not seen poetry make any drastic shifts up to this point. That is about to change with T .S. Eliot.
The term avant-garde comes from the French for "advance guard," or the foremost division of an army. Thus, avant-garde in an artistic or intellectual sense refers to a group that is at the forefront of any movement or school of thought in such fields as art, literature, or even politics. In a literary sense, avant-garde works tend to be radical, experimental, and innovative. Poems by Eliot were avant-garde partly because he employed an unfixed pattern of rhythm called free verse. In addition, Eliot often used colloquial language (including slang and references to popular culture). He is also known for creating muddled, complex statements by way of figurative language, symbolism, allusion, and imagery rather than composing overt, simplistic messages.
Access and read the poem "Preludes" by T. S. Eliot. A prelude is a short musical piece, often used to introduce a major movement. Modern poetry, especially that of Eliot, can be challenging to understand. Many Modernist poets felt that following a structured meter was to restricting for poetry, so they disregarded patters of meter in favor of free verse. "Preludes" was composed in free verse, and it also resembles a patchwork of images and thoughts with very little transition between fragments. As you read "Preludes," take the time to paraphrase each stanza in a sentence or two, and pay close attention to the imagery that evokes strong emotions.
"Preludes"
The poetry of T. S. Eliot was avant-garde, eschewing flowery language and strict meter in favor of free verse with no rules. Many of his poems offered readers a collage of disconnected images without an explanation of their meaning. Indeed, Eliot dropped the role of the authoritative poet who brought readers to pastoral forests while expounding on the meaning of life. Rather, he portrayed the gritty reality of urban life from the eyes of just another person suffering from loss and alienation in the Modern era. His poem "Preludes" captures this sentiment in a Modernist style. Click the player button to begin.
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Poetry in the Modern Period Review
Now that you have explored poetry composed during the Modern period, it is time to review your knowledge and practice what you have learned. In this non-graded activity, read the statements and decide whether they are true or false. Click the player button to get started.