Friday, 9 September 2011
To My Brother
This poem is about a persona who is mourning but also reassuring his dead brother. This could be metaphorical in that soldiers thought of themselves as a 'brother band', or literal as in actual blood relation. The persona assures the ghost of their 'brother' that their death had not been in vain and that the persona will 'win the light' or win the war because of their brother's sacrifice 'through your victory'. Also, Sassoon uses religious imagery to reaffirm the calming notion present in the poem; 'returning by the road we came', or being reborn into life after death. The third line 'For we have made an end of all things base' implies some kind of heaven where there are no 'base' things, only bright and beautiful, this thought is echoed later on with the last word being 'light', and the mention of the 'laurell'd head', laurell leaves making up the crowns of the Olympian gods', implying some kind of heaven again. Also, laurell wreathes were given to great heros in Rome, which implies that the persona regards any man dying in the war as a great hero, and the fact that he is seeing it through gloom implies that the death of the soldiers is a beacon of light for goodness to come again. The persona also implies that the soldier was destined to die in order for the war to go on, with the word 'lot' which has a double meaning. One is destiny and the other is type or kin. Therefore the line 'your lot is with the ghosts of solders dead' could mean that the persona believes it was the dead soldiers fate to die, and therefore reasserts the religious imagery throughout the poem or he is telling his brother that he needs to stay with the ghosts not with the people. In the second stanza there are two examples of juxtapositions, with the second line 'And I am in the field where men must fight', juxtaposing nature imagery with violent fighting imagery. The line after this, 'But in the gloom I see your laurrel'd head', juxtaposes the gloomy and dreary war with the brightness of God and heaven. The simple ABAB rhyme scheme in this poem reaffirms the sincerity of the writing and the simplicity of his love, because of its simplicity and repitition. Also, there are two cases of alliteration in the poem, which both occur on the second line of each stanza. The first is a calming 'sh' with 'should think of shame', and the second is another calming sound of 'm' with 'men must'. These calming sounds as well as the simplicity of the rhyme scheme show that this poem is meant to reassure and calm the dead that they will not be forgotten and that they were important to the war. In comparison to the rest of the poems we have read this one is much more positive of the war and death and shows a more positive side to death than previously aware of.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In contrast to the other poetry we've looked at by Sassoon this poem follows in the footstepts of Rupert Brooke in singing of the 'glories of war' and emphasising the nobility of the sacrifice the dead soldiers have made - that they will always be our 'glorious dead'. Of course the soldiers have made a great sacrifice, but in his later poetry Sassoon contradicts himself, portraying their deaths as ugly and horrific, and the war as a defiling of humanity. Sassoon was only sent to France in November 1915, coming to the war with the innocent 'dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' view of death. This poem, written in december 1915, shows his views at an earlier stage, before he became disillusioned to the debasing and pathetic nature of war, the ugliness of unnecessary death and the corruption and apathy of those in political control.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is so touching to the reader beacuse as you say its sincerity is done in such a simplistic manner, taking into account the regular rhyme scheme. Another way of looking at this poem is that perhaps the 'brother'(friend/actual brother)is injured and is fighting for his life and is going home 'returning by the road he came'. The speaker is comforting the injured yet he feels himself guilty that perhaps he has come out unscathed whilst his friend has not hence the reader should 'think of shame'. The rest of the company has died, 'your lot is with the ghosts of soldiers dead' yet the speaker must remain 'in the field where men must fight'. Perhaps it is as mIchael says and the soldier is dead and the fact that his dead body is 'returning by the road' coincides with 'Birdsong' in that the dead soldier is heading back to the mass grave he walked by on the way to the trenches. Anything is possible!
ReplyDeleteI really like the comparisons across texts and contextual references that you're all making. Good stuff. Keep it coming.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember when we watched the film of "Regeneration" that when Owen said he wrote to his mother all the time Sassoon said that his mother had enough to worry about as his brother had died at Gallipoli? This poem is therefore widely believed to be about his actual brother who was buried at sea following his death in battle. It was published in early 1916 before the battle of the Somme and so although losing his younger brother must have been devastating, this poem represents a time in Sassoon's war before he experienced loss on any kind of large scale.
That's not to say that any of your ideas are wrong. Do you remember right back at the start of L6 we talked about Barthes' theories on the death of the author and that following publication authorial intention becomes obsolete and reader interpretation becomes more important? Check out page 138 in the turquoise critical anthology that you've got if you've forgotten this.
I agree with all of your ideas and analysis which you have done very well and thoroughly, therefore it is hard to add any more ideas!
ReplyDeleteBut I have seen that on the footnotes it states that Sassoon’s brother, Hamo, was “mortally wounded in Gallipoli.” Therefore I think that the poem in general is a way of Sassoon comforting himself and justifying his brother’s death as throughout the poem he glorifies every death, particularly his brother’s.
I also looked into Hamo’s death as I thought it would be significant and I learnt that he was injured in Suvla Bay when he was helping with entangled barbed wire in No Man’s Land, therefore was taken to a hospital ship where he eventually died. Thus, when Sassoon writes to his brother or readers that he is “in the field where men must fight.” He could be in No Man’s Land and therefore potentially facing the same unfortunate fate that his brother obtained. Sassoon also states that “in the gloom I see you laurell’d head.” Which could be Sassoon actually believing that he saw his brother’s face in a particular situation similar to what he is describing in this poem, and where his brother faced his near death. As a result this poem could possibly be a memory of which Sassoon (and Hamo) experienced.
Iona: Your comment is very interesting that this poem is written by a more naiive Sassoon, before he becomes disillusioned by the vulgarity of war. On that note it is really interesting to see the spirit much like that of Lieutenant Raleigh in 'Journey's End' the play that we just watched. In the beginning of the play, Raleigh was an innocent and naiive man excited for the fight and looking for the glory of winning, however by the end he had realized the true base nature of the war. Sassoon reminds me a little bit of this as we can see his transformation throughout time, from 'To My Brother' to 'Base Details', for example.
ReplyDeleteFreya: Your idea is very plausible, as it is well known that soldiers were affected by guilt after war because they felt they should not have lived when their brothers died. Was this not referred to as survivor's syndrome? Your idea is just as plausible as mine.
Steph: I was thinking of what Ms. Dryden mentioned; to look at the poem as if we didn't know who had written it and their past, however you are probably right and it is a memory of Sassoon's brother, and your idea about the No Man's Land is very interesting.
The poem ‘To My Brother’ is surprisingly positive when taking into consideration Sassoon was writing about his own brother. In normal circumstances grieving siblings would experience expressions of sorrow, guilt, emptiness, bitterness and anger. However, instead Sassoon talks about his brother as if he is still alive saying “give me your hand, my brother, search my face.” It seems as though he seeks comfort from him, and thus feels obliged to write his poetry about Hamo instead of worrying his mother further. My interpretation of “the ghosts of soldiers dead” and “I shall win the light” is that Sassoon believes that the dead will continue to fight in their sleep and with their sacrifices it is certain they will win the war. Or this could be ambiguous in that Sassoon believes that he will too die along with the other men, and the light could be symbolic of his entrance into heaven and meeting his brother once again.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Mickey’s view as at the beginning of the war the men were incredibly patriotic and were positive about the ‘Great War’ and happy to fight for the preservation of their country, this is proven through this poem. Little did Sassoon know that he would become embittered by the sacrifice of the youth, including the death of his own brother. As his poetry progressed, a change in attitude can be seen as the realization of the corruption of political control is exposed and the process of bereavement develops.
The majority of critics I have researched appear to regard Sassoon’s war poems as a significant expression of the savagery and intuitive costs of modern, mechanized combat. ‘To My Brother’, I find, is Sassoons attempt at creating a longer, more sympathetic poem that is characterized as a failure which caused him to overreach the bounds of his talents and become sentimental, creating works to memorialise those dear to him, who have fallen during the war, and in this case his brother.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find most notifying is the constant emotion of bereavement and the ‘shame’ of the persona still on earth whilst his brother lies in heaven with the ‘ghosts of soldiers dead’. Sassoon has included cherished words such as ‘give me your hand’ and ‘look in these eyes’ which achieves mere intimacy between the brother and the persona.
I find Iona’s point on the naive soldier quite interesting, and after researching into other poems that display this innocence, I found the poem, ‘Strange Meeting’ by Owen, in which portrays a debate between the liberal philosophy of social progress and an apocalyptic vision of war by presenting a dialogue between the inexperienced and innocent speaker and the dead enemy. It describes the narrator trying to escape the death and drumming of guns by going down into the trenches. However, as he ascends, he finds that he has descended into Hell, where he is confronted with a man he himself killed. This underground encounter between the two characters, each of opposing sides, is infused with a melancholic sense of resolution and regret. The poem shows war as a death bed to the youthful, innocent soldiers.
Mikey I think everything you have said is very relevant and credible, and you haven't left too much for the rest of us. I couldn't help but draw comparison between this poem and the relevant part of Birdsong in which Levi mourns the loss of his brother Joseph. This is yet another example where we see the extent of fraternal love throughout literature. "Through your victory I shall win the light", suggests that the speaker is proud of his brother's heroic death in warfare,with his "laurell'd head" but it could also mean that it is because of the death of a loved one that the persona is willing to continue to fight, not because of any patriotic views. Perhaps his determination is encouraged by thoughts of revenge for the enemy? By the end of 1915 when this poem was written, it had become apparent to most at the front that this was not going to be a quick and easy war and they soon lost the sense that they were there to fight for their country. By this point they were fighting for their own survival, in the terrible conditions, and for that of their "brothers", both in warfare and through blood,as Mikey pointed out. Like much of Sassoon's poetry I think it is necesary to make clear that this is not poetry referring to only the British soldiers, but all those on both sides,suffering the same sentiments of loss.
ReplyDelete