Rosanna Cinquemani
Angela Provenzano
World War I was a war that involved many of the world’s great powers which were assembled in two opposing alliances; the Entente and the Central Powers. The cause of this war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28th, 1914 and lasted five years, until 1919. During this time there were six magazines, in which we will be working with, that expressed feelings, emotions, opinions, poetry and even art work regarding the war. These six magazines were Blast, The New Age, The Owl, Poetry, Scribner’s and Wheels. A magazine is not only utilized as a marketing tool but is used as a voice for the community. Our group will focus on poetry written throughout these magazines and analyze the different styles, themes, mood and reason behind a selected poem. Each magazine has a style of its own and different techniques of expressing their ideas. As we continue to read further into the magazines, as the year’s progress, we begin to see the mood of the poems changing. Some poems begin to express anger while others use metaphors to demonstrate how the war, although it has ended, will always remain in our hearts.
Blast was one of the earliest magazines which produced articles of art and poetry. The poetry studied in this magazine was written by Ezra Pound. His poems were still not yet speaking about the war in depth. However, many of his poems illustrated life in general, for instance, social order. One of the more analyzed poe ms is called “The Social Order”, by Ezra Pound. This poem was written in volume 2 of 1915, during the beginning of the Great War, yet doesn’t actually speak about the war directly. The style of this poem is very descriptive. Therefore, this poem holds a lot of imagery where the reader can imagine the order in which the king viewed his wives; as things not people and replaceable. In line 12 the poet says “Go before her into avernus”; avernus was a lake near Naples, Italy, looked upon in ancient times as an entrance to hell. The second wife as mentioned in line 5 of part II is already destroying the house of the first wife. Once one wife died, there was another to take her place. The most imagery in this poem is portrayed in line 3 and 4 in part II, “is now surrounded by six candles and a crucifix”. You can imagine here the first wife lying in her death bed, surrounded by candles and a crucifix. Although this poem was not directly speaking about war, perhaps the poet was inspired to write this poem because of the war that was going on during the time. People were dying but during that time it was just seen as a part of life and they quickly moved on. Even though this poem speaks about death and cremation “Suttee”, it continues to say “save a squabble of female connections”, in other words, at least she (the first wife) left peacefully and there was no fight between the two females. The mood is depressing yet, optimistic because the poet goes on to say, “It is to be hoped that their spirits walk with their tales up”, to basically rest in peace.
The second poem I chose was in The New Age, entitled “God and Man” by Fitzgerald Lane in January of 1915. This poem uses metaphors, such as games to describe life, which can also portray war, “that life is a gallant game” last line- Stanza 6. This poem contains a mood of superiority because it seems as if God is speaking to everyone and he says “The moment they felt my will was slack, the nations all fought like dogs” Stanza 5. This can be analyzed as God telling the world that as soon as things went wrong or people didn’t agree with one another, all the world became like dogs and began barking or fighting with one another. The author uses God as imagery to help the reader in vision him being hurt and looking down at these men as if they are disappointing him. As the years go on we begin to see that poets start to express the feelings that are formed due to the Great War. Fitzgerald Lane uses a line in his poem to express how god is crying over everyone because of what was going on and says, “That I shed great thunder tears” stanza 3. He uses thunder and rain as a metaphor to describe God’s tears. The mood of this poem is powerful, especially for someone who is catholic because God is a big part of their moral decisions. This poem was very “in your face” and expressed emotions thoroughly. Fitzgerald Lane does a good job in making the reader or the people in war feel guilty for causing such destruction. As we continue to look forward into the magazines we begin to distinguish how the poems, either directly or indirectly, use words to describe the emotions of people during the Great War.
The Poem entitled "Something" written in The Owl of volume one by Robert Nichols is a short but complex poem. There are many factors that contribute to making the poem complex. If you take a look at the first two lines, you can see that they contradict one another: “How long I have wished for something I know well, but what that something is I cannot tell.” The poet says how he knows very well about the thing that he wishes for, but then in the second line he says that what that something is, he cannot tell. At first I didn’t know why the contradiction occurred, but I soon realized that the poet is in a state of sadness and despair because he is alone and feels emptiness inside of him. He uses personification (sad tears) as well as imagery and emotion (shivering with=2 0longing for its sake) to strengthen the intensity of the meaning of the poem. He mentions moon time and twilight to show how time has passed, as well as mentioning that he is a broken man, to show that he has yet to heal. The last two lines of the poem are almost identical to the first two lines of the poem, in that they both don’t give a definite or complete thought as to where the poet is taking us. He repeats the line of “But what that something is I cannot tell” to bring you back to the same point, and to show a disconnection with the reader. Nothing has changed, the poet is still alone and unaware of his surroundings. I think that this poem can relate to the topic of war because during a time of war, many people lose hope and lose direction. Many people feel broken either fighting in the war, or waiting for a loved one to return home. Many people feel broken when they find out that a loved one has passed during the war as well. More often than not, a person feels at a loss for words, and their emotions are all over the place, thus not really knowing where to find themselves, or if they ever will. I feel that this poet conveys those feelings and emotions. Likewise, in a poem right below this one, written by the same author is called “A Wandering Thing.” Both poems contribute to what is called The Three Poems of Enigma, so they share very common themes. This poem, even shorter, also has that same sense of despair and not know ing why the feel the way that they do. Personification is also prevalent in this poem (hopeless rain) as well as a melancholy tone “A profound grief, an unknown sorrow wanders always my strange life thoro.” The fact that the sorrow is always unknown shows the emotional state that consumed the lives of many people during The Great War. “I know not ever what brings neither it hither, nor whence it comes . . . nor goes it whither.”
In volume four of the Poetry Magazine, Nicholas Vachel Lindsay writes two simultaneous poems that clearly depict what was going on during The Great War. In “The Cyclists” the poem moves very quickly and talks about how these so called cyclists fly around and circle over the dying bodies of England. Right there, you can have numerous images in your mind of dead bodies and a sense of heartbreaking events. The first mention of “she” in the poem threw me off, but I soon realized that the line She lies with her bosom beneath them, no longer The Dominant Mother, The Virile—but rotting before time” is obviously in reference to how England started off strong in the war, but over time became powerless and defeated. It shows how England is no longer the dominant mother, bu t instead portrays England’s weakness as rotting before time. The poem goes on to say how “The smell of her, tainted, has bitten their nostrils. Exultant they hover, and shadow the sun with foreboding.” This poem gives England a terrible image; it says how England is sinister and tainted. It makes more than one attempt in saying how England gives off a bad smell whether it is from her rotting, or from the smell of her being tainted. This poem directly relates to the topic of war because everything about it is made as an attempt to portray England’s emotional and physical state during the time of the war.
It would be safe to conclude that each of these poems include some aspect of The Great War. Even though each poet might not have directly mentioned a relation to World War One, we can definitely sense the tone, mood, and emotions evoked by each poet. Many of the poems selected have a dry, somber tone to it that usually deals with the topic of death. We also found it extremely interesting to read poems written for those dealing with the effects the war can bring. This intended audience wasn’t necessarily in combat, but instead dealing with the hardships at home. Many of the poems did not view the war in a positive light. The idea of social order was mentioned as well as the mention of England and of God. Destruction was said to be all around, as well as unknown sorrow for what the future might bring. We feel that these magazines collaboratively center around a common feeling towards the war. The magazines definitely help to shape a better understanding about how many Americans felt and reacted to such a time in history.
