Analysis
The theme of the glory and horror of war is represented in both of the selected poems.
The first poem is called "God Bless US" by Udiah (witness to Yah). The theme is presented in the numerous repetition of the word "US" (Udiah 11 14 17 23 32 34) throughout the poem. The word "US" always appears to have both letters capitalized and never has periods in between the letters, so this means that the poet is not talking about the United States. The poet also uses a simile, "Like history repeated a Trojan Horse Await" (Udiah 5-6) to compare the 9-11 attacks to the Trojan horse of Greek mythology. The poet also takes out part of the last portion of the United State's National Anthem when they say, "The Home of the Brave" (Udiah 22). This is to show that this line was meant to warn attackers about the power of the United States.
The second poem is titled "War is Kind" by Stephen Crane. The poem shows the horror of having to comfort a mother and his daughter after her son and her father died in combat. The repeated phrase "War is Kind" (Crane 5 16 26) after the end of every other stanza. This is irony that shows that the poet is trying to fool the mother and her son's child into believing that "war is kind", when it is not. The next quote, "These men were born to drill and die" (Crane 8) is a hyperbole. This exaggerates the extensive training that the men receive. The last quote represents the way that the soldier died, "gulped and died" (Crane 14). This shows that the soldier didn't even have a fighting chance.
The first poem is called "God Bless US" by Udiah (witness to Yah). The theme is presented in the numerous repetition of the word "US" (Udiah 11 14 17 23 32 34) throughout the poem. The word "US" always appears to have both letters capitalized and never has periods in between the letters, so this means that the poet is not talking about the United States. The poet also uses a simile, "Like history repeated a Trojan Horse Await" (Udiah 5-6) to compare the 9-11 attacks to the Trojan horse of Greek mythology. The poet also takes out part of the last portion of the United State's National Anthem when they say, "The Home of the Brave" (Udiah 22). This is to show that this line was meant to warn attackers about the power of the United States.
The second poem is titled "War is Kind" by Stephen Crane. The poem shows the horror of having to comfort a mother and his daughter after her son and her father died in combat. The repeated phrase "War is Kind" (Crane 5 16 26) after the end of every other stanza. This is irony that shows that the poet is trying to fool the mother and her son's child into believing that "war is kind", when it is not. The next quote, "These men were born to drill and die" (Crane 8) is a hyperbole. This exaggerates the extensive training that the men receive. The last quote represents the way that the soldier died, "gulped and died" (Crane 14). This shows that the soldier didn't even have a fighting chance.
Photo from: http://allthingswildlyconsidered.blogspot.com/2012/05/do-not-weep-maiden-for-war-is-kind.html