Isaac Rosenberg was a young poet who served, and was
killed, in World War I. Many critics feel that his best poems are those in which he
expresses his honest, unromantic feelings about war.
In "On
Receiving News of the World," Rosenberg compares the world at war to a world that has
been overtaken by snow. This snow has robbed the world of "bud or bird," and has had a
negative effect on "men's hearts":
Some spirit old
Hath
turned with malign kiss
Our lives to
mould.
Even God himself is
effected by war:
Red fangs have torn His face.
God's
blood is shed.
He mourns from His lone place
His children
dead.
War is a "crimson
[bloody] curse" that has stolen the pure "pristine bloom" from the
universe.
No comments:
Post a Comment