Anthology Three: Conflict

The poem describes memorial tributes to dead soldiers, ironically comparing the sounds of war to the choirs and bells which usually sound at funerals.

The poem describes the events leading up to the Battle of Vinegar Hill on 21 June 1798. Croppies were Irish rebels fighting for independence from Britain.

Written in 1854 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poem deals with the theme of patriotism in conflict.

In this poem by W B Yeats an Irish airman weighs up his reasons for fighting the enemy during World War One.

A notorious propaganda piece in which the Jessie Pope directly invites young men to join the “game” of war, downplaying its realities to romanticise and idealise military service.

Henry Newbolt's tribute to the public school values that the speaker feels created generations of honourable and brave soldiers to serve the British Empire abroad.

Thomas Hardy portrays emotions felt by a soldier who recognises the similarities between himself and an enemy he killed, and the pointlessness of the war that made them enemies.

Eleanor Farjeon's reflection on the loss of a friend in war and the shock caused by realising their violent death occurred as the speaker enjoyed a peaceful morning in nature.

Carol Ann Duffy imagines a reversal of the carnage and destruction of World War One, instigated by a nameless war poet within the poem itself.

A woman whose memory is failing struggles to remember those she has loved in the past by Edna St Vincent Millay

A tank commander returns to the scene when an enemy combatant he killed lies decaying, and finds a photo of the dead man’s girlfriend, by Keith Douglas.

Ted Hughes' vivid and brutal illustration of the thoughts and feelings of a soldier mid-charge on the battlefield.

Owen Sheers' reflection on how soldiers’ remains from World War One still surface in the French countryside. The poem honours their sacrifice while condemning war’s destruction.

Simon Armitage's dramatic monologue that gives voice to a man trapped in the North Tower during the 9/11 attacks.

The theme of remembrance is illustrated through a mother’s account of her son leaving to engage in combat and the heightened emotions she feels, by Jane Weir