The Effects Of War On Humanity

The personal effects Of contend On HumanityA dictionary definition of contend is a state of open, armed, oft quantifys pro coarseed en comeback carried on surrounded by nations, states, or parties. Whilst this definition is clear enough it does not come up close to exploring the true meaning of cont force out in terms of emotions and the effects of fight on gentlemans gentleman as detai conduct throughout history by the poets. Wars prior to 1914 name inspired poets to record for descendants the grime hard chartakes of conflict and the impact on lives While ravens and kites peck at human innards (Li Po or Li Bais immoral War). Other poets have utilize state of contendfare to stimulate their audience, perchance to c on the whole back up arms When can their glory fade? O the wild shoot down they make (Alfred Lord Tennysons The Charge of the baseless Brigade), term others have using upd poetry to record glorious acts to swan the memory and perhaps justify a past contend So on they fought like a swirl of living fire ( homers The Iliad) which remained exclusively as a verbal record for centuries before it was written down.The verses studied have explored the different aspects of war. From marks The Iliad and his glorious verbal com workforcetary of Menelaus Finest Hour through to Alfred Lord Tennysons homage to braveness and honour in his celebrated The Charge of the Light Brigade to Li Pos abominable War this probe pull up stakes explore how poets have considered the impact of war on reality. This canvas will touch on the simple rhythm of Whitmans Beat Beat Drums and narrative submitd in another Walt Whitmans threnody Vigil crazy I unbroken on the Field One Night I kept iodin night. This essay will contrast the glory of a horse load with Whitmans crushing description of the degeneration of a bereaved mother in fuck off up from the Fields Father. This essay will consider how these verses study across the start out of em otion all(prenominal) of which humanity has becomed when war is decl ard, fought or concluded. This essay will as intimately make honorable mention on John Scotts The Drum, comparing to the distaste for the different sounds of war.Homers The Iliad is an epic poem telling the story of the trojan War. It is fall in a term w here(predicate) wad considered the Gods to be all powerful and present in life influencing every aspect of human existence. The war referred to in The Iliad was the Trojan War fought between the classicals and the Trojans in what is now mainland jokester. The war took place in the 8th or 9th degree centigrade BC. The epic poem concerned the famous story of the abduction of Helen of Troy by Paris and her husband, the Greek prominent power Menelaus war to gain her back and destroy the metropolis of Troy. The Greeks landed close to Troy and besieged the city for ten years. During these years a number of strifes were fought and The Iliad provided a narra tive of these engagework forcets. One such episode describes the encounter over the corpse Patroclus, a friend of Achilles, who had been killed by Hector, the Trojan hero. In describing the fight for Patroclus body Homer recalls the gods Ares, Athena and finally Zeus and compares the warriors efforts to those of the Gods Not even Ares1, lasher of armies, not even Athena2Watching the battle here could scorn its fury Homer demonstrates the supreme effort made to recover the body of a dead comrade. The office of anaphora here helps to highlight the colossal effort demonstrate during the conflict that not even the acts of Gods could compare. This comparison by Homer may have been a useful device in the context of the times in which the poem was retold usually by travelling actors bringing stories to distant Greek villages, the comparison of effort to that of the Gods implies superhuman strength designed, no doubt, to inspire awe from the villagers. on that pointfore the Iliad ca n also be compared to a type of propaganda, not lonesome(prenominal) to entertain the masses, merely also to remind them that the manpower at arms in the service of the King were to be not only admired but feared in this way covering an effect on humanity.Homer sets a scene that is full of work force grappling, scrap and straining. This titan like struggle contrasts with Whitmans elegy Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night I kept on the theatre one night where the authors reflections on the after battle scene describe a quiet lonely place Vigil wonderfully and vigil sweet at that place in the fragrant silent night, But not a cull take flight, not even a long-drawn sigh, long, long I gazed.. His use of long drawn sigh and repeat of long suggest time and space for reflection as opposed to the crowded feel of the surpass upon in the Iliad. Further, Homers description of the environment Fought on at their ease beneath a clear high sky, Sharp brilliance of sunninessl ight glittering round them, not a cloud in study to shadow the earth and mountains. Men who fought at a distance worked with frequent breaks suggest a sun scorched, hot sweating place where grit and dust mix with blood to create a awful scene. The resource created would have been familiar to listeners who will have recognised such a hot eastern Mediterranean climate. Homers efforts to ensure his listeners recognition go some way to allowing empathy with the heroes in the poem. This narrative style contrasts with the curt clipped verse in The Drumby John Scott which has an absence of any description of the environment in which the conflicts referred to take place.In The Iliad, Homer sets the scene providing a background for the listener to connect with whereas Whitmans poem has no function or need for such description as his intention is dramatically different. InThe Drumthe environment has no relevancy above the mental object that the pounding of the perplex is the messenger of doom. Similarly, Beat Beat Drums by Walt Whitman is being depict by a tentative spend the soldier illustrates the hatred he obtains for this drum that is beating for the announcing of war breaking out. John Scott uses a very common poetic device in The Drum he utilizes poetic meter to create the rhythm thus creating an echo of the drums. He uses iambic tetrameter as shown in the following quotation I hate that drums conglomerate sound/ parading round, and round, and round. The pattern of the stressed and unstressed syllables (-/-/-/-/) conveys how the drum in the poem is being played. For Scott, the sound is hateful as it calls materialization men to fight and fall in foreign lands. In Whitmans poem he writes using free verse, however, the heavy stresses on the syllables on the opening line also demonstrates the sound of the drum. This suggests the destructive nature of war on humanity. The use of onomatopoeia in Beat Beat Drums also helps suggest this.In Homers The Iliad, I feel as though Homers exploration on the effect of war on humanity is very clear. He shows the physically grueling experience of being on the battle field, with the gods as passive spectators. The Iliad includes a lot of references to the young men baffling with battle Grim and grueling, relentless drenching labour, non stop. Homer is making it clear through the use of alliteration, a list and negative words that these men are working very hard. This can be compared to the elegy Come Up From The Fields Father, as Whitman also shows the effect war has on young men. However, the dickens different poets have different root words to put across to the proof lecturer. Homer wanted to show the benefits of the young fleck because of the enthusiastic approach revealed by them. Whitman wanted to show the negative effect of war on the young soldiers and their families. In the poem the family of the young soldier receives a letter that tells them he has been injured gunshot combat injury in the breast, cavalry skirmish, taken to hospital. The impact the letter has on the family is devastating and when the mother finds out that her only son is dead, she is so grief stricken that she wants to die.The second ancient poem downstairs consideration is Li Pos Nefarious War. Li Po or Li Bai, the variation of Romanization of , was a poet who lived around 700 BC in imperial china. He was a famous poet who wrote many poems on varied subjects including war, love and wine. He was celebrated for his ability to write without correction. His assister was spent in the court of the Chin Dynasty3but he fell foul to court intrigue and eventually committed suicide. Li Po was not a soldier but in his Nefarious War the speaker is clearly a warrior, who talks of his weariness with conflict and his reflection on wars impact. At the time of writing imperial china was engaged in uninterrupted struggle to defend its borders against marauding tribes. The impact on its people was considerab le. Given the vast size of China it was not possible to defend all the territory under the emperor and therefore much time was spent on the campaign where the armies would travel for years to combat warring hordes or tribes attempting to steal territory, people or possessions.Po seems to suggest war is unavoidable. His premier stanza describes locations of the campaigns the head-stream of the Sang-kan, the Tsung-ho road, the waves of Chiao-chi lake and the pastures on Tien-shans snowy slopes. This can be compared to Homers description of the plains of Troy where a specific battle is fought for a specific effort. Li Po provides no detail political reason for war other than the need for defense against a foe. Nefarious War suggests an unrelenting, cranch attrition where the defenders of the empire need to be ever watchful Where the Chin emperor built the walls against the Tartars, There the defenders of Han are animated beacon fires. The beacon fires burn and never go out, There is no end to war this signifying a incessant state of alertness using alliteration to make the point burning beacon fires./The beacon fires burn where the use of B provides a harsh staccato and repetition provide a prelude to the final There is no end to war suggesting an exhausting vigil followed by the suggestion of lament that no end to the conflict is in sight. Due to the depressing language Po uses, one thought springs to mind, Po might well be making a plea for stay symptomatic of a need for rest from the ever present danger and the need for a constant watch. This can be contrasted to the battle being draw by Homer, it is stated that the fighting is do in one place, not on a widespread measure.Additionally, there are many references to the length of war, the point that war goes on forever. Li Po describes the conflicts as The long, long war goes on ten green miles from home. The repetition used here is very effective, it makes the reader feels the real expression of ted ium made by speaker. Also, Po uses the repetition to link to the idea of the life of a warrior being boring the mere fact that it is the same everyday and nonentity changes. John Scott uses repetition in his poem The Drum with his reference to the serviceman parading round, and round, and round. This is similar to the repetition of Long, long which suggests that war has a negative effect on humanity.Li Po goes on to describe the battlefield in his third stanza. In the battlefield men write out for each one other and die provides a brief summary compared to Homers detailed description of the fight for Patroclus body. Li Pos scrimping with words suggests a different view of war. Far from it being an illustrious fight between men for a reason (the recovery of Patroclus body) the empty, uselessness suggested in this opening line portray a futility. Li Po contrasts the transmiters with the followers So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass, and the generals have poli te nothing. Here it is the ordinary soldiers that do the dying whilst the generals who command the army achieve little by the efforts of their men. In The Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson refers to this element of war with his Not though the soldier knew, some one had foul uped where generals order the deaths of men under their command without thought. However Tennyson goes on to emphasis the heroism and dedication to commerce displayed by the cavalry at Balaclava whereas Li Pos reference to the men and horses dying merely reminds the reader of the impact of battle on them (The horses of the vanquished utter lamentable cries to heaven). This reminds us that the effect of war is not only on humanity, but on the animals. This can be therefore related back to Pos point prompt the gravity of war and how it affects everyone, that it is inescapable and destructiveLi Po suggests a lot about the loss of the bodies on the battle field. The mere fact of different birds of prey peckin g at the human entrails explains to us that the dealing with human fatalities at this time was very poor. This image is repulsive it is clear that they dont even care what happens to the bodies due to the negative wording. However if you contrast this to Homers The Iliad, the fight for a heros body, such care and passion demonstrated in for the body of Patroclus and to ensure a proper burial. This is of prevail not the case for the bodies being described by Po. In Whitmans Vigil Strange I Kept On The Field One Night, there are many references to a brother or very close friend relationship between the two comrades representing, on a general scale, the bond between soldiers at the time of the American complaisant War. An interesting point is that if we compare Nefarious War with the perspective of Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, it demonstrates the progression in concern for soldiers as human beings, over the centuries, with item-by-item lives and families rather than just complete armies or unnamed bodies on the battlefield. At a point of interest, The Iliad and Nefarious War were written in different parts of the worldly concern therefore this can be linked to the conflict that exists today. This is the clash of Western vs. Eastern culture it can be interoperated that Homer was presenting the ethos of his people and Li Po doing the same. Both poets representing the way in which warfare is dealt in their culture.Through out the range of poems that are being considered, there are aspects of soldiers joining in unity. Noticeably it is hardly used at all in Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, as the idea that the poet wants to get across is the concept of the individual love and not of comrades showing unity. One may even sense an impression of ignorance, coming from the poet, of the soldiers feelings or of the terrible effects of the war-torn environment that surround them by focusing on one relationship and not the big photo. However, this is definitely not the case shown in Nefarious War Po wants the widespread effects on humanity to be apparent while being read. Last year we fought by the head-stream of the Sang-kan, this year we are fighting on the Tsung-ho road. We have water-washed our armor in the waves of Chiao-chi Lake we have pastured our horses on Tien-shans snowy slopes. The repetition of we in this context is an effective nitty-gritty of pulling in the reader and allowing Po to create unity between himself and his comrades. We is often used as a motivational device to form a community within a group it is used to show equality from even the lowest ranked soldier fighting alongside to a King. In this case, Po is trying to present to the reader the universal suffering that is taking place. This can be contrasted, with great clarity, to Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, by the author showing individual anguish instead of a collective misery.Whilst the misery illustrated by Po throughout his poem does seem to distract from the actual descriptive nature of the war, his message should not be ignored that war is a destructive force and nothing acceptable comes out of it. However, it is worthy of note that Pos exploration/description of war differs from Homers or Whitmans. Whitman shows an energized approach towards war, as though, he is remembering action to happen, for example, Beat Beat Drums gas Bugles Blow Through the windowsthrough doorsburst like a ruthless force. This quotation demonstrates a real eruption of Whitmans message here that war is destructive, the explosive B alliteration articulated by Whitman shows us the genuine sinew that war does in fact bring. In the starting line stanza of Nefarious War, the idea of fatigue is portrayed by Po with a thought of no hope, armies have worn and grown old. An automatic image that comes to mind when including such words as old and worn gives off the negative vibe intended by Po, it makes us imagine a withering army consisting of a few men. Consequently, Po intentionally illustrating the effects on humanity but especially the armed forces of the country.In spite of this Po uses a lot of active verbs in the third stanza, comparable to the energy in The Iliad. Po uses words such as grapple and vanquish. This can be compared to the violent words used by Homer. The image in our heads of men hacking the lines to pieces and the example of some(prenominal) sides dragging the corpse. These expressions are full of energy they are the many of the violent cinematic imagery used by Homer to formulate the actual being there effect the poet wants the reader to experience. In addition to that point, Homer wanted to report the horror of the battle of Troy as a significance he uses much hyperbole to shock his audience. One of the very moving similes Homer uses to describe the fighting is the link to fire, relating the fighting as a swirl of living fire. The main descriptive word here is fire, which gives an impression of carnage and mayhem. This is exactly what Homer wants to create he wants to explain to the reader what a feverous battle this truthfully is.Nefarious War has a lot in common with another Whitman poem, Come Up From the Fields Father. This poem deals with the torment of war on humanity. It is about a letter arriving at a household in America reading that the son has a gunshot wound to his breast. This of course is devastating to the family. Whitman then focuses on the mothers reaction, which is fainting going Sickly white in the face and consequently privation to die when she discovers her son is dead. Come Up From The Fields Father can be compared to Nefarious War in that they both deal on the effect of war on humanity and the disturbance of the everyday life. While they stand at home at the door he is dead already, The only son is dead. This quotation is adequate for what the author is trying to explain to the reader, the idea is linked back to what Po wants to get a cross, the suggestion of no hope. This image plays in our mind, the word only automatically creates an image of aloneness or only one, and this demonstrating the devastating effects that war has on family life therefore Whitman showing no mercy towards war.If you look at the different poetic devices used by Homer and Po, you will see that Homer uses a lot of enjambements to retain the flow of the action in the battle In Nefarious War there is only one example of enjambment. An example from the illiad is Achaeans to drag him back to the hollow ships/ And round him ceaselessly the brutal struggle raging. It is worth noting how Homer wants the flow to stay fluent when being read this is done by not using a comma at the end of the first line, hollow ships. Po wants to get the message through about the evils of war he shows this by using negative poetic devices, such as sibilance. Sibilance comes from the Latin word meaning hissing the link to the ancient belief of a snake hissing this being the link to evil. As in the bible, Satan disguised himself as a snake in the garden of evil. The representation of this is made by authors use of s, soft c, sh and z sounds. So, men are scattered and smeared. The annotation smeared is a very ugly word, it creates an automatic blood shed image, the touch sensation of smearing blood on a sword. The concept of men being scattered is very potent to the reader, it creates a picture of a bomb shell hitting the battle field. This quotation is very clear in what Po wants you to get from his poem he wants you to pick up on the evils of war, as shown by the use of sibilance. Po also wants you pick up on the effects of war on humanity, humanity being the men that have been scattered and smeared.Po comes across as one of the normal men affected by the war participating in his country he uses a first slide by account, fabricating the struggle of the humanity in ancient China. After all, war affected the run of the mill man, not speciall y prepare soldiers, the average farmer as hinted by Po The barbarian does man-slaughter, not plowing. This completes Pos message to the reader, the thought of war having an effect on not just humanity but the livelihood and the wellbeing of families. Thus Po intentionally showing the reader the detestable effects of war on the humanity in China at the time.Tennysons Charge of the Light Brigade is an example of a war poem written for a purpose that to provide some useful propaganda and to understand this more fully the context surrounding the place setting needs to be considered.The Crimean War (1853 to 1856) fought between the allied coalition (Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia) and Russia was the first large scale conflict to be covered by journalists as we understand it today. For the first time reports of battle could be cabled or returned by fast sloop back to London in time for newspaper runs. Accounts of the battle field by independent reporters shocked the home audience a s the public became aware for the first time of the poor conditions of the fighting soldiers and the incompetent nature of the leadership.The conflict surrounded Russias continual threat to the Ottoman Empire. Russia postulate a warm water port in the Mediterranean and provoked a war with Turkey over religious matters in Ottoman held Jerusalem. Britain and France came to Turkeys aid and sent men and ships to the black sea to counter the Russian threat to the Bosphorus. At this period, Britain was at its most powerful with an empire stretching around the globe. British superiority in trade, manufacturing and sea power provided a sense of invincibility to the nation who supported the war. engine room had developed to enable telegraphic communications and photography and so it was possible for the conflict to be followed both in the written form and visually in much shorter timescales than ever before. Russell of The Times was the most notable correspondent.The coalition forces had landed in the Crimea on the black sea and laid siege to Sevastopol, the main Russian port in the area. The coalition forces were thinly stretched through battle casualties but mainly through infirmity and poor sanitary conditions. In an attempt to raise the siege the Russian forces attacked the coalition flank at Balaklava. During this action there were three major events, the Highland soldiers resistance to a Russian cavalry charge the Thin Red Line the Charge of the Heavy Brigade to repulse a further cavalry attack and the most famous of all, the Charge of the Light Brigade. The first two actions were fine examples of British soldiers led by their commanders beating the enemy when defeat looked certain, however it is the Charge of the Light Brigade that has become world famous for its pointlessness. Against all the accepted rules of warfare of the day, the British Light cavalry charged the main body of the Russian army due to a poorly worded order. Many men and horses were kill ed for no gain.The Charge was report by Russell and along with other reports of the poor handling of the war, public opinion turned against the conflict. Florence Nightingale famously intervened with the wounded and set up a hospital in Scutari. Questions were raised in parliament and long after the war ended there were concerns on all aspects of the handling of the war. It is against this backdrop that Tennysons Charge of the Light Brigade must be considered. Like Homer, Tennyson had specific reasons for the construction of his poetry. The war had proved unpopular and as Poet Laureate, Tennyson may have been responding to the public attacks against the establishment by presenting the charge in its more favourable light. Tennyson emphasises this in his last three lines Honour the charge they made Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six blow He keeps this exaltation to the last to leave the reader in no doubt that whatever the reasons for the blunder the charge was an honorable thing.T ennyson opens the account by recreating the rhythm of the horses cantering, one-half a league, half a league, Half a league onward. This is an example of dactylic meter with the last foot onward as trochaic. This use of meter helps to establish the prologue to the action the cavalry steadily advancing on the enemy.Tennyson takes the reader to the centre of the action, carom to right of them,Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, and Stormed at with shot and shell. This use of anaphora and alliteration simulates the effect of gun fire as the cavalry move down the valley. Tennyson provides this imagery to set the scene of the carnage the men faced. Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell. Here Tennyson tells us that despite the storm of lead these well trained disciplined soldiers kept going where perhaps others would have stopped. He raises this point primitively in the poem Forward, the Light Brigade Was there a man dismayed? This seems at first a rhetorical question, however Tennyson quickly confirms the irrelevance of the question with Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die in doing so he reminds the reader that the soldiers were there to do their duty and not question the intentions of their leaders. The repetition of Theirs is emphatic. It is not for the soldier to reply to an order neither is it to try to understand the intricacies of military tactics, their job was to follow orders and perhaps die in the process. Tennyson is reminding the audience of the nature of soldiering and warfare.The first three stanzas deal with the approach, the fourth addresses the action at the guns while the fifth describes the return of the Light Brigade. Tennyson repeats his use of alliteration here again Stormed at with shot and shell to remind the reader that the cavalry was under fire both in to action and homeward bound.Against a backdrop of criticism of the war Tennyson is reminding th e reader throughout that the action was to be admired When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made All the world wondered. Here reminding the reader that through the action Britain remains admired. This contrasts with Li Pos Nefarious War that has none of the elements of message contained within Charge of the Light Brigade. Li Pos poem is at its vegetable marrow anti war So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass, And the generals have accomplished nothing suggests the absolute pointless waste of human life by the soldiers, leaders. In contrast Tennysons only reference to the poor leadership of the war was Not though the soldier knew, Someone had blunderedTennysons assertion that some good came out of the action exampled by the splendid military precision displayed by the cavalry Boldly they rode and well and Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air suggesting military discipline and prowess, this contrasts with Scotts The Drum- I hate that drums discordant sound, Parading round, and round, and round the repetition of round provides an imagery of pointless drilling of soldiers undergoing repetitive tasks for no apparent reason.In conclusion, the range of poems and poets that I have included in my study have expressed the full range of emotions and views from the heroic to the wastefulness of war but, ultimately, all have provided a graphic portrayal of the effect of war on humanity. Of the main poets that I have concentrated on, Homer and Tennyson focus on the energy of war and portray human sacrifice as the ultimate in. In contrast, Po wants to inform people of the terrors of war in order that humanity will learn from the terrible deaths of the war-torn and not have wars in the future. While Po has more of a wide-reaching message, probably aimed at a more at a high political level, Whitman similarly portrays war as wasteful, he concentrates on the more personal, everyman loss that soldiers deaths have on families bac k home. Finally, John Scotts poem, The Drum portrays the initial bravado and excitement that war can detonate in both soldiers and the people at home, but ends with the brutal realities of the mangled limbs, and dying groans, And widows tears, and orphans moans, And all that Miserys hand bestows, that demonstrate the truly awful effects of war on humanity, which are perfectly summed up by Benjamin Franklin (1706 -1790), There never was a good war or a bad peace.