War by Edgar Wallace and Come up from Fields, Father Essay Example

Lee's miscalculation of his military power led to the culmination of the U.S. Civil War in 1865, a significant event that instigated both the abolition of slavery and the restoration of peace by the North nationwide. Walt Whitman's poem, "Come up from the Fields, Father", explores the impact of this war on those who were not directly participating, with a specific focus on female characters. Despite deviating from conventional rhyme schemes as it adopts free verse, Whitman offsets this absence through extensive use of assonance which generates a powerful poetic effect.

The text showcases various techniques utilized by the author to enhance the speed of reading. One such method is assonance, which involves the repetition of vowel sounds. The poem contains scattered instances of assonance, such as in the phrase 'This is not our son's', where both the 'I' and 'O' vowels are repeated. In addition to assonance, the author employs two other techniques, namely alliteration and monosyllabic wording. The title and first line, 'from the fields father', serve as an example of alliteration. To demonstrate monosyllabic wording, the line 'white in the face and dull in the head' is utilized.

The poet uses hyphens and endstopping to slow down the poem, contrasting with the speeding up effect created by assonance. For instance, in the line "And come to the front door mother-here's a letter from thy dear son," the hyphen and full stop provide pauses. Every line in the poem is endstopped, with no examples of enjambement. Throughout the poem, personal pronouns are scattered, mostly referring to the son. For example, "here's a letter from our dear Pete" portrays the son as a possession of the

parents.

The poem primarily uses the personal pronoun 'you,' although 'thy' is employed when portraying the relationship between the mother and son. This showcases the mother's closer bond with Pete compared to other family members, and serves as a warning of the impact his death would have on her. The second verse is dedicated to picturesque descriptions, a skillful portrayal by Whitman. He effectively employs two rhetorical questions, such as 'do you smell the fragrance of grapes on the vines?' The next poem I will analyze, titled 'War,' takes place during the Boer War. The onset of the second Boer War ensued after learning of gold being discovered in the province of Transvaal.

The Boers felt that they could drive out the Brits, while the English believed they needed to control Natal and the Cape colonies due to the growing independence of Europeans. Following the declaration of war, the Boers invaded and resulted in the loss of many lives from both the Afrikaans and British sides. The poem 'War' follows an ABABCDCDEEE rhyme scheme (with a slight deviation in the second stanza with 'soul... hand'). It uses a motif to depict war's hardships as if they were mandatory. The phrase 'And its War!' is repeated until the final verse, where it is changed to 'But its War!'.

The necessary hardships that justify the death of the soldier are portrayed in this text. In 'Come up from the Fields, Father', there is a slight motif (which may be seen more as repetition), but due to the free verse structure, it is challenging to maintain and repeat in every verse. The semi-motif found is 'come father- ... come mother-'. Wallace

uses onomatopoeia in the first verse to depict the scene with the imagery of 'mutter of guns'. This can be compared to the 'bees were lately buzzing' in the second verse of Whitman's poem. Unlike 'War', where there is a lot more rhythm and rhyme, there is not as much assonance used.

The contrasting perspectives of Whitman and Wallace can be exemplified by their pronoun usage. As mentioned earlier, Whitman often employs personal pronouns while Wallace tends to focus more on the collective impact of war rather than individual experiences. By using a detached pronoun like 'take it out', he eliminates any sense of personal ownership or identity from the soldier. The subsequent poem under consideration is 'The Battle of Blenheim'. This conflict took place during the War of Spanish Succession and saw participation from several armies belonging to the Grand Alliance, such as England, Austria, United Provinces, Prussia, Denmark, Hesse and Hanover.

The military forces were led by John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. On the opposing side, Camille d'Hostun de la Baume, Duc de Tallard; Maximilian Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, and Ferdinand, Comte de Marsin commanded the French and Bavarian armies. The poem 'The Battle of Blenheim' draws parallels with the concept of 'War', using irony to highlight war's pointlessness. This piece employs a consistent verse structure and rhyme scheme rendered as ABCBDD.

The first line of this poem, 'It was a summer evening', employs the technique of pathetic fallacy. Whitman also uses this technique with the phrase 'moderate wind'. Both instances create a false sense of security. Ultimately, the poem that left the strongest impression on me was 'War'.

It had a strong rhythm and effectively utilized the motif. However, I feel that the free verse in 'Come up from the Fields, Father' could have benefited from a more regular structure or rhyme scheme. I enjoyed 'The Battle of Blenheim' and found it successful, although it lacked the immediate impact of 'War'. Overall, 'War' had a profound impact on me.