War in Poetry
War is imposed. The situation to go to war is made by those who have something to lose in the political realm. If war were a decision made on an individual level it would be a mere fight. The Leviathan, as referred to by Thomas Hobbes, or system to which we all belong, denies individuality. There are individuals that lead movements or even make pivotal decisions, but they are simply social figureheads and not individuals in the governmental sense. Poetic skepticism acts as the tool by which poets illustrate the appalling nature of war. Regardless of being members of the Leviathan, poets maintain their emotional individuality and subsequently present a situation in a new light. Fame is often seen to be associated with the figureheads instigating the wars. This acts as a method of their own promotional arrogance but the beneficial aspects go no further than this. It is the commoner, or worker that endures the harsh realities of war and the poet is their spokesperson. Examples of the poetic skepticism concerning war can be seen in Bertolt Brecht's "A Worker Reads History", William Butler Yeats' "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death", Siegfried Sassoon's "Does it Matter?" and Randall Jarrell's "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner".
The livelihood of the pilot in Yeats' "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" stems from "a lonely impulse of delight" that he felt while flying. His current occupation began from a genuine affinity for something that the government would soon extort. "Those that I fight I do not hate, / Those that I guard I do not love". The airman's position is clear. The government by which he is controlled has him fighting in a cause that he does not stand for. He sees himself as a worthless pawn whose life has little significance in the grander scheme, a supposed grander scheme that he is not allowed to have any control over. "A waste of breath the years behind/ In balance with this life, this death." From Brecht's workers to Sassoon's purple hearts, true reward is absent. The ruling class does not allow for individual attention. The world is run with a sense of arrogance instead of respect. The funny thing is that the arrogance comes from the desire for respect. It is this reason that for every year of peace, there is four hundred years of war. "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" is Jarrell's testament to the insignificance of a human life in wartime. We, as readers, find ourselves sympathizing with the wartime emotions shown by the gunner. The anxiety/panic picture that is created in hunchin
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Approximate Word count = 882
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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