Responses to Poems :: War Poems Poetry Literature Essays

Responses to Poems Poetry is known to stimulate powerful responses in readers. Examine your reactions to these poems. How do they make you feel and why? Analyse the link between the various techniques used by the poets and your personal response. Use detailed references to the poems to support your comments. Reactions: #1 Reader feels disturbed; unsettled, because (No more Hiroshimas) d and u poet speaks about relics of the attack that remind us people were the victims of these attacks, not just buildings or far-off governments or high-flown principles (The Day After) d and u reader does not know who is right and who is wrong-what should the Americans have done rather than cause so much suffering? Was there another way to end the war? Could the countries have worked something out? (Monuments of Hiroshima) u only was a 'wooden box' too much to ask for? We should give the victims of the attacks some more substantial monuments, something that respects their courage or at least their individuality-makes reader think (Ghosts, Fire, Water) d and u the reader almost feels scared, frightened of the ghosts, who are reaching out their hands and blaming us, and he/she wants to run away, or find some excuse for the bombings, but cannot reader also wants to deny that he/she ever stopped "loving others", but cannot These poems make the reader feel unsettled. In "No More Hiroshimas", the poet describes Hiroshima as "a town like any other//Ramshackle, muddy, noisy". This makes the reader feel bad, and wonder why, if Hiroshima was so ordinary, it had to be destroyed. It makes the reader question how random the attacks that day were, and how much was planned. The poet also speaks of relics of the attack with great vividness and descriptive language: "The bits of burnt clothing,//The stopped watches, the torn shirts.//The twisted buttons". These relics are all to do with people; i.e., they are clothes or shoes or jewellery. The poet uses this vibrant imagery to remind us people were the victims of these attacks, not just buildings or far-off governments or high-flown principles. The reader realizes how inhumane the attack on Hiroshimawas. In "The Day After", the reader feels uncertain because the poet has left him/her 'sitting on the fence', unsure of whom is right or wrong. Edward Lowbury describes Hiroshima's pain with such intensity one cannot help but feel for the people-yet he also tells the reader "every scar of it's their fault". #2 Reader feels sad, because (No more Hiroshimas) The bomb left an ordinary, run-of-the-mill town in pieces; killed its people, destroyed its beautiful landmarks, and above all, saw that Hiroshima would, in a Responses to Poems :: War Poems Poetry Literature Essays Responses to Poems Poetry is known to stimulate powerful responses in readers. Examine your reactions to these poems. How do they make you feel and why? Analyse the link between the various techniques used by the poets and your personal response. Use detailed references to the poems to support your comments. Reactions: #1 Reader feels disturbed; unsettled, because (No more Hiroshimas) d and u poet speaks about relics of the attack that remind us people were the victims of these attacks, not just buildings or far-off governments or high-flown principles (The Day After) d and u reader does not know who is right and who is wrong-what should the Americans have done rather than cause so much suffering? Was there another way to end the war? Could the countries have worked something out? (Monuments of Hiroshima) u only was a 'wooden box' too much to ask for? We should give the victims of the attacks some more substantial monuments, something that respects their courage or at least their individuality-makes reader think (Ghosts, Fire, Water) d and u the reader almost feels scared, frightened of the ghosts, who are reaching out their hands and blaming us, and he/she wants to run away, or find some excuse for the bombings, but cannot reader also wants to deny that he/she ever stopped "loving others", but cannot These poems make the reader feel unsettled. In "No More Hiroshimas", the poet describes Hiroshima as "a town like any other//Ramshackle, muddy, noisy". This makes the reader feel bad, and wonder why, if Hiroshima was so ordinary, it had to be destroyed. It makes the reader question how random the attacks that day were, and how much was planned. The poet also speaks of relics of the attack with great vividness and descriptive language: "The bits of burnt clothing,//The stopped watches, the torn shirts.//The twisted buttons". These relics are all to do with people; i.e., they are clothes or shoes or jewellery. The poet uses this vibrant imagery to remind us people were the victims of these attacks, not just buildings or far-off governments or high-flown principles. The reader realizes how inhumane the attack on Hiroshimawas. In "The Day After", the reader feels uncertain because the poet has left him/her 'sitting on the fence', unsure of whom is right or wrong. Edward Lowbury describes Hiroshima's pain with such intensity one cannot help but feel for the people-yet he also tells the reader "every scar of it's their fault". #2 Reader feels sad, because (No more Hiroshimas) The bomb left an ordinary, run-of-the-mill town in pieces; killed its people, destroyed its beautiful landmarks, and above all, saw that Hiroshima would, in a