8/9/2019 War Written by James Shappcott

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War written by James Shappcott, as the title suggests is a poem about the FirstWorld War written around 1965. James Shappcotts ather went to war and thispoem especially ocusses on the emotions o his ather a ter he came bac! romthe war. "nitially this poem tal!s about the proudness that is initially associatedwith the images o #ghting in the trenches and wearing the army uni orm.

$owe%er goes on to show the not so glorious side o war, through the personalperspecti%e o his ather. &he poet re'ects about his athers emotions andactions ollowing the war. (y e)amining his selecti%e use o sub*ect matter, hislanguage choices and *udicious use o poetic de%ices, and care ully consideringhis point o %iew, attitudes and belie s his understanding, perspecti%e andrepresentation o war can be understood. "t has been deduced that Shappcottintroduces post+traumatic stress, the #ght or no cause and the other side o warto portray an anti+war perspecti%e. &his is shown through his language choicesand particular phrases which put a di erent spin on the perspecti%e beingportrayed in the te)t.

&he #rst and most ob%ious reason that this poem ta!es on an anti+warperspecti%e is because o the ocus on the post+traumatic stress o the poetsather. Shappcott e)plicitly tal!s o this by saying, - y ather wo!e struggling,one night./ &his is commonly !nown as 0sleepless nights which occur a ter aparticularly stressing e%ent. &he poet continues on to tal! o how his ather still0demanded atonement a ter all these years. &he poet seems to imply that thewar changes ones li e ore%er and one may ne%er #nd peace, e%en i thephysical scars heal.

nother sub*ect matter which the poet discusses that re%eals his anti+warperspecti%e is about the pointless loss o men. $e tal!s o how -2allipoli was asel#sh blunder/ and that it was -a battle ought or nothing/. "t can be deducedhow he sees the battle at 2allipoli as a #ght or no cause. en lost their li%es#ghting or nothing. &his seems to perpetuate into a larger image o how ingeneral, war isnt really ought or any cause in the perspecti%e o the indi%idualman.

3ne o the last ways that this poem is written with an anti+war perspecti%e canbe seen in the #rst stan4a. $e tal!s o how at #rst *ust wearing the army uni ormand thought o going to #ght or ones country is grand and noble. $owe%er hisuse o the words 0glib slogan on his army uni orm put a di erent spin on themeaning o this poem. Shappcott says that the %alue o the uni orm is almostmeaningless, it maybe something to be proud o when one is about to lea%e orwar, but once in the war+4one, it becomes haunting. $e also tal!s about 0theother side o war and how that reshaped the soldier. &his means the side that isnot imagined by young teens enlisting or war.

&o conclude, James Shappcotts poem, War, was written with an anti+warperspecti%e which can be deduced rom his themes that perpetuate the posttraumatic stress o war, the #ght or no cause and lastly the other side o warthat no+one really sees.