Ideology of Sacrifice in the Poem and Songs of 20th Century

Question: Discuss about the Ideology of Sacrifice in the Poem and Songs of 20th Century. Answer: Introduction The chosen poem and song for this paper is Here dead we lie by A. E. Housman and the song is I Was Only Nineteen by Red Gum (1983).Alfred Edward Housman was the Englich classical poet and scholar. His poem has been one of the most influential poems of the world. This poem was to illustrate the terrible situation where the young children were sent to war to fight for their fatherland. The dominant ideology in the poem is sacrifice, where the life of young children is sacrificed by the older generation. The same ideology is found in the song I Was Only Nineteen, as the song highlights the sacrifice and hardship of the young soldiers in Vietnam War. Here dead we lie (Poem) This is a very famous poem on war and sacrifice written by Alfred Edward Housman. The poem says: Here dead we lie we because we did not choose To live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; But young men think it is, and we were young. This explains the pain and sacrifice that young children had to face in war. The two main wars that have marked the 20th century were the two World Wars. These world wars affected people in different ways and millions of people died, while fighting for their nation. The English poetry in the beginning of the 20th century was mainly related to war, patriotism and sacrifice (Robinson, 2013). The poem Here Dead We Lie of A.E. Housmanshows that a young dead man is talking about the honor of sacrifice and futility of the heroism. Young soldiers believe that it is better to sacrifice their lives to honor their country, but the second paragraph of poem raises a question that was that sacrifice really needed. The poem talks about the young men, who displayed heroism in the war and died fighting for their nation. The poem deals with the dreams of the young men. It can also be considered as an extraordinary poem for the punch it surrounds with itself. It includes compassion, patriotism and com memoration, yet the poem also develops the sense of sadness and a bitter truth is revealed (Reedy, 1968). The aesthetic features of the poem represent the aspects of the World War I. The aesthetic features of the poem construct the dominant ideology of sacrifice and honor the sacrifice of the young soldiers. There are two different aesthetic features are associated with the young men giving their life for their nation. The first is the sense of pride in the sacrifice that the young soldiers make, which displays the different and nave thoughts of the youth. However, second are the sacrifice and the dark suspicion between the courage and cowardice (Pearsall, 1967). An irony is displayed to the second verse of the poem. This is again an aesthetic feature that reinforces the main ideology of sacrifice. The life of the young soldiers is nothing for the senior officers and other people, while the young soldiers refuse to accept the life means nothing. The pain of sacrificing their lives can be easily made from this irony that they lose everything with their death, as these men have been cheated with their chance to live a happy and complete life. These points reinforce that sacrifice is one the dominant ideology of this poem that is reinforced again and again through aesthetic features of the poem. I Was Only Nineteen (Song) This song was written by Redgum in the year 1983 for the Australian Soldiers, who participated in Vietnam War. The song reflects the theme of war led sacrifice that families had to face. The message that the writer reinforced through song was that age of nineteen is the very young age and sacrificing life at this young age can be a huge impact of life of youth and their families (Siminski and Ville, 2012). Thus song written by Redgum is highly meaningful and emotive song. The song displays the hardship and experience of the Australian soldier, who is preparing for the war and fighting in the Vietnam War. Soldiers going for the war and the family members have arrived to see the passing out parade: " Mum and Dad and Danny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal It was a long march from cadets The lyrics also explain the aftermath of the war and explain the physical and psychological damage that the young soldiers had to face in the Vietnam War and even after coming back to Australia (Sim et al, 2003). " I was only nineteen" The above line is repeated in chorus to reinforce the message and theme of sacrifice. The aesthetic features of the song are the solemn and reflective tone, and also the repetition of the word display anaphora to intensify the emotions and to reinforce the message of pain and sacrifice (Siminski and Ville, 2012). The song also displays the haunting and difficult experiences by saying that And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep? This line expresses the pain and sacrifice of the soldiers that they had to deal during and after the war. The most difficult situations in the war is seeing the best mates dying, which the song reinforces the pain through its chorus. The dominant ideology of sacrifice is prominent in the song. The sacrifice of the young soldiers is not temporary, but they have the long term consequences of the sacrifice made in the wars. These evidences reinforce the dominant ideology o9f sacrifice. Conclusion Paper focuses on discussing the dominant ideology of sacrifice in the songs and poem of the 20th century. The poem included in the paper is Here dead we lie by Alfred Edward Housman and the song included in the paper is I was only nineteen written by Redgum (1983). Both the literary prices display the dominant theme of pain and sacrifice through their aesthetic features. The poem and song captures the feelings and emotions of the soldiers in a very simple and respectful manner. Bibliography Pearsall, R.B., 1967. The Vendible Values of Housman's Soldiery.Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, pp.85-90. Robinson, F.C., 2013. The Pleasures of Pass Poets.Sewanee Review,121(2), pp.254-261. Reedy, G., 1968. Housman's Use of Classical Convention.Victorian Poetry, pp.51-61. Siminski, P. and Ville, S., 2012. I Was Only Nineteen, 45 Years Ago: What Can we Learn from Australias Conscription Lotteries?*, 1.Economic Record,88(282), pp.351-371. Sim, M., Abramson, M., Forbes, A., Glass, D., Ikin, J., Itak, P., Kelsall, H., Leder, K., McKenzie, D. and McNeil, J., 2003. Australian Gulf War veterans health study 2003.Canberra: Detartment of Veterans' Affairs.