World War 1 was originally a European war. It eventually escalated to a global conflict involving 32 nations. The enthusiasm with which the European people greeted the outbreak of hostilities during World War 1 quickly turned to horror as casualty lists lengthened and reality set in. What had been projected as a brief war became a four year struggle. When the guns finally did fall silent, the German, Austrian, Russian empires collapsed, and the greater part of a generation of young men lay dead.
At the beginning of the war, most poets wrote about how it was patriotic to fight or even die for your country, "The Soldier" is one of these poems. Rupert Brooke wrote this poem very early in the war, this is known as a pro-war poem. In this poem he is saying if you die for your country you will be a true patriot. I think this poem is very patriotic and though many consider it too romantic compared to the gruesome works of some World War 1 poets such as Wilfred Owen, it gives a very good image of young men's attitudes when entering the world before they had been hardened by the experience of war.
The poem "Futility", the heading says it all for Wilfred Owen, World War 1 was pointless, useless. The first stanza of Futility describes someone of authority (maybe a General) ordering his men to move the dead soldier into the sun, he believes the sun has woken him once before so it can do it again,.
"Move him into the sun,.
Gently its touch awoke him once,".
but the sun is not shining today; it is snowing as the poem tells you its location,.
"Always it awoke him, even in France,.
Until this morning and this is snow,".
The general starts begging the sun to start shining on this poor soldier to awaken him.
"If anything will rouse him now,.
The kind old sun will know,".
The second stanza goes much deeper into the Generals emotions he is saying why did the sun break the earth to create us, if we are going to slaughter each other.
