Sheers’ poem Mametz Wood is about 38th Welsh Division soldiers who were sent to fight in France when they unexpectedly got killed by the German troupe. This battle is known as the Battle of Somme. It was a singular part of World War I and disastrously killed 4000 people. This unforgettable battle took place between 7-12th 1916. By using language features such as an oxymoron, metaphor and plosive alliteration, Sheers communicates the impact and the violence of war that these soldiers had to undergo, “For years afterwards the farmers found them – the wasted young, turning up under the plough blades as tended the land back into itself.” The oxymoron of ‘wasted young’ is applied to show that the lives 38th Welsh Division soldiers’ were cut short; Their lives were literally wasted. ‘Young’ allows the reader …show more content…
This was extremely unfortunate and unnecessary for the 38th Welsh Division army as they went to fight for their country at a pure, young age and died because of it. By using an oxymoron, Sheers depicts the violence of mankind, as these ‘young’ soldiers were killed by mankind itself. This is a battle between the Germans and the 38th Welsh Division but in general, mankind versus mankind. Sheers illustrates that war has a long-lasting effect by applying plosive alliteration, ‘For years afterwards the farmers found them.” Including the long-lasting effects of war, the plosive alliteration highlights the aftermath of war ‘years afterwards,’ as war monuments arise from the Earth which brought back history. The ‘foreign’ bodies, the monuments, had risen through the Earth and brought the history of the Battle of Somme with them; showing the aftermath of the war. Furthermore, metaphors and plosive alliteration outline the fragility of mankind and the senselessness of war in, “A chit of bone, the china plate of a shoulder blade, the relic of a finger, the blown and broken bird’s egg of a skull.” The metaphor of ‘china plate’ conveys the idea of how life is precious and