Tears Poem By Thomas

Throughout human history, many time periods had affected the humanity in ways no one expected to happen. Such great period was the time of the First World War or the Great War which started in 1914. This was one of those events where no one could predict the outcome and the consequences it would bring. But because of the veil of ignorance, people were unprepared for what was getting later on them. The terms “‘war poet’ and ‘war poetry’, observed Robert Graves in 1942, were ‘terms first used in World War I and perhaps peculiar to it.’” (Das, 2013) This poetry represents the soldier’s response to the horrors of the war. It can be said that this poetry genre is divided in two stages: the first stage from 1914 to 1915 where the poems glorified …show more content…
This poem talks about life and death, as well as the effects of the war. By reading the poem we clearly see the mental condition of the soldier. The tears represent the emotional state, and the “ghost” tears mean that they are present for a long time. What is also interesting is how the lines that are mentioning the dragon in the blooming meadow can be analysed in different ways. For example, it can be interpreted as a symbol for the actual war and its horrors or as a propaganda posters used to recruit more soldiers. Thomas again glorifies England and its countryside which can be seen through the motive of hounds, England, British, etc. The hounds probably represent the soldiers but also, this motive can be connected with the long tradition of the fox hunt in England. The line where the ‘dragon’ “bends towards the sun” represents the place where the war is happening and where everyone should go. Further on, the English troops depicted as hounds are marching towards the sun. The hops that are mentioned there are flowers very toxic to dogs which means that the soldiers are rushing into …show more content…
In this poem, Thomas shows a peaceful scenery of the countryside which counteracts the war chaos. The conversation between him and the farmer is infrequent, commenting the weather and war, but they had not experienced it first-hand. The figures of lovers show up at the poem’s beginning, and again at the end as symbols of life and love. They continue with their everyday lives hoping for better times. The fallen elm tree is used as a metaphor for the soldiers who died in the war. Throughout the poem, it seems that the farmer is constantly working to distract himself from the fact that he has not gone to war and tries not to talk much about it, but that can’t be said for the poet. The reason why Thomas could not have portrayed the war as vivid as the countryside was because he was not a part of it. Only after he enlisted was he able to grasp the true extent of the