Nicholas Carpenter

ERH 205WX-03 Short Assignment 17 April 2020

Help Received: Spellcheck

Sassoon, “Aftermath.” Part 1: Sassoon wrote this poem in 1920 and it asks the reader to not forget the events and experiences of the war.

Part 2: The first technique I found interesting and effective was the repetition of “Have you forgotten yet?…” and the line following it. The first one reads “Look down, and swear by the slain of the war that you’ll never forget.” The second one reads “Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget.” The poet gives a pair of sharply contrasting images to remember the war by. The second line I found effective was “Do you ever stop and ask, ‘Is it all going to happen again?'” The times, places, and causes of future wars would be just as unpredictable as those of the Great War had been.

Owen, “Parable of the Old Man and the Young.” Part 1: Owen wrote this poem near the end of the war. He uses the story of Abraham and Isaac. He changes the story by adding “parapets and trenches,” making the ram symbolic of pride, having Abraham refuse to sacrifice the ram in place of his son, and explicitly mentioning Europe in the final line.

Part 2: One word choice I found interesting was “the Ram of Pride.” The analogy is to trade the ram to save Isaac, and to give up pride to save Europe. The second choice I found interesting was that the poet refers to Abraham as “the old man.” Owen feels the leaders of the older generation could not set aside their pride and reach a reasonable conclusion to the war. Owen’s modification of the story of Abraham and Isaac shows his disillusionment.