Final Paper Topic
Topic: Poems that address the dead or show the dead speaking
to the living
Question: Do the poets address the dead and show the dead speaking
strictly to show the poet's guilt over the deaths of his fellow soldiers and the fact that
the poet himself is still alive?
I want to look at poems that depict the dead as judging the
living, but I also wanted to analyze poems to attempt to understand if the dead
being addressed and personified in poems is used strictly to cause the living
to feel guilt over the fact that they are still alive. The poems that I want to
analyze are “Haunted” by Robert Graves, “Trench Poets” by Edgell Rickword, “Armistice Day, 1921” by Edward Shanks, and “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae. People tried
to communicate with their dead loved ones during WWI and I would like to evaluate
the purpose of giving a voice to the dead and directly speaking to them in war
poetry.
What I need help with:
I’m having trouble thinking of outside sources that would be
useful in analyzing the poems and answering the question I pose in my paper. Do
you have any ideas for outside sources that would be helpful?
Are there any other poems that you can think of that you think would fit with my paper?
Does the question make sense? Does it need to be narrowed more?
A Piece of how I've analyzed the poems so far:
Graves shows conflicting emotions in his poem “Haunted.” In
the first stanza, he asks the dead to leave some of the good for the living –
to let the living find happiness where they can. In this stanza, Graves does
not seem to think it is fair that all the happiness should be taken to the
grave with the living. He directly addresses the dead when he askes them to “leave
the noonday’s warm sunshine / to living lads for mirth and wine.” Graves
acknowledges the dead but does not seem to want to allow the rest of his life to
be dictated by the dead and the fact that he lived while others didn’t. In the second stanza of the poem though, it is clear where
the title “Haunted” fits. “Phantom faces” that “grin” as they walk in “daylight”
on “morning street” is a disturbing image. The dead are in a place that should
ultimately be happy during the birth of a new day.
“Armistice Day, 1921” shows the dead speaking to the living.
But this poem serves the exact opposite purpose of many other poems that
address the dead or depict the dead as speaking to the living from beyond the
grave. This poem utilizes the dead to assuage the guilt of the living. For those
who consider death as a peaceful respite from the pain of the war, the dead are
better off than the living. If the dead are the lucky one, then the living have
no reason to feel guilty for surviving.
I wanted
to look at “In Flanders Fields” because of the bluntness of the lines “We are
the dead / Short days ago we lived…” This seems like a plea from the dead to the living. The dead are asking the living not to forget them and to not allow them to die for nothing.
I think the question could be worded a bit more simply: "How did poets of the First World War deal with their guilt by writing conversations with the dead?" I don't know that this is definitely the best way to go, but I was confused by the question as it currently reads, and this, at least, has fewer words, even if I'm not sure it's necessarily better.
ReplyDeleteI think the part of the documentary that discusses spiritualism might work as a source for your paper, though I will not lie, I forget which part that was. Still, I think discussing how people without poetic leanings were dealing with the dead within the context of the war might be interesting, and I imagine you'll be able to find more information on ghosts of the First World War than specifically ghosts of World War I poetry.
Overall, though, this sounds like an interesting paper--you've got ghosts, psychology, and poets torturing themselves, and that sounds fun to me!
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a good question, although it is a little wordy and hard to follow. I like Olivia's suggestion, but I'll offer another one as well. I think asking "What purpose did writing about the dead serve for WWI poets?" I'm not sure if this is too broad, but you could answer it by suggesting that guilt was the reason.
I also am not sure if Fussell would be a good source or this is even a direction you want to go, but he did talk about the seances people used to communicate with their dead loved ones. I tried to find exactly where, but I could not for the life of me find the chapter (or pages) he discusses this in. I'm not sure if the credible sources have to necessarily be scholarly articles, but I did a quick Google search for spiritualism during WWI (https://canadianmilitaryhistory.ca/ghosts-of-the-first-world-war-spiritualism-and-psychical-research-in-britain-by-kyle-falcon/) and found that source. It talks more of families dealing with loss, but it puts the topic of speaking with the dead in context. So, if you wanted to use this (or a similar source you find) it could help relay the point that it wasn't uncommon for people in the time to communicate with the dead.
"Sick Leave" by Siegfried Sassoon also personifies the dead and he communicates with them. I think this poem would be a good one to use especially because it is through this communication with the dead that Sassoon thinks about the soldiers he left behind to keep fighting, so it would play into your theme of guilt well.
You have a very interesting paper topic and I look forward to seeing what you do with it! I hope our comments help!
- Vic
So first, I agree that the question is good in essence, if a little wordy and confusing. Maybe you could combine Olivia's and Vic's ideas into "How did writing about/to the dead help World War One poets deal with the complex emotions of war?" Then you can focus it on guilty feelings and maybe include just a bit about other emotions from the war as a way of supporting your main argument about guilt. I hope that came across well.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Fussell and the video are good sources. You might also look at some mythologies where death is represented by a god that people speak to. Then you could tie in a bit of myth if you wanted to.
As far as poems to use, I like that you've included anti and pro war poetry, since guilt isn't exclusive to one type of soldier. It might be interesting to include "Channel Firing" where the dead talk to each other. That might extend beyond the scope of your paper though. "I Have a Rendezvous with Death" could also be good to look at, especially if you end up using some sort of mythology as an outside source.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea for a final paper. My thoughts were somewhat similar to Oliva and Vic's in that I think you might have an easier time finding poems/ external sources by narrowing down the focus of your question. I think you should either go with the topic of war poetry demonstrating guilt of the dead or poems that “depict the dead as judging the living.” I think both are strong ideas but you would have a much easier time if you just focused on one. Like Vic suggested, I think “Sick Leave” by Sassoon would be a good poem if you chose to focus on the idea of guilt of fellow comrade death. At the end of the poem Sassoon asks why the living soldiers are not fighting for their dead comrades which captures the aspect of guilt you mention.
I think an easier way to word the question could be "Does survivor's guilt play into poetry that depicts the dead speaking to the living?" or something along those lines, although I'm not entirely sure if that would cover everything you'd like to talk about. In terms of outside sources, I found an interesting article that I skimmed (I'll link it at the end). If you download the chrome extension "Unpaywall" you'll be able to access it for free through Cambridge's library. It covers grief and spiritualism in what looks like pretty good detail (again, I only skimmed) so I think it's worth looking at if you want to go down that route. This sounds like a really interesting paper and I'm excited to see where you go with it. I hope this helped!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history/article/civilians-soldiers-and-perceptions-of-the-afterlife-in-britain-during-the-first-world-war/3A6405819218E85767F30B3CABBFD218
Your topic is great, and I know you'll have no problem comprising the remaining outside research that you are looking for. However, I do think it is a little broad. You have taken two ideas for a thesis and combined them into one potential paper. Simplified I think that a good question could simply be "How did WW1 poets interact with the dead?" This way, you could add in all of your other parts of the original question as examples or solutions to the question instead of having to delve into a lot more than you need to.
ReplyDeleteWhat you've analyzed so far is excellent. The examples you've pulled really match the question you're trying to answer, and the dead clearly take a life unto their own. (haha). Also, just because "In Flanders Fields" is my favorite poem ever I appreciate that you've taken it upon yourself to dissect it so thoroughly.