Analysis of “Suicise in the Trenches” By Siegried SassoonAnalysis of “Suicise in the Trenches” By Siegried Sassoon

Analysis of “Suicise in the Trenches”

By Siegried Sassoon

Introduction

Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.

According to Herman J. Waluyo (1995) in his work Teori dan Apresiasi Puisi, he describes a poetry is one of literary work which uses the beautiful words and also has the sententious meaning. The beauty of poetry is formed by an intrinsic elements. Which it devides to be two kinds, those are the physical and psychological elements. The physical elements in poetry are the imagery, diction, figurative language and rhyme. Whereas the psychological elements are like theme, atmosphere. and tone.

According Herman J. Waluyo’s theory (Teori dan Apresiasi Puisi:1995), the poem divided two, they are physical structure and psychological structure.

1.      Physical elements :

1.      Diction is the selection of words which was written in the poem because the words show the meaning, rhyme, and context of the poem.

2.      Imagery is word or structure of word that describe imagery experiences.

3.      Concrete words is to make the words in the poem is more concrete. If the writer make the word to be concrete, the reader can imagine, see, and listen what the condition in the poem.

4.      Figurative languange is languange which is used by the writer to describe the meaning of the poem.

5.      Rhyme is the equation of the sound in poetry, either at the beginning, middle, or the end of lines of poetry.

2.      Psychological elements:

1.      Theme and Messange is part of poem. Theme is main problem of poem which the writer describe. Message is something that the reader can conclude after they read the poem.

2.      Feeling/Atmoshpere is the reader’s feeling after they read the poem.

3.      Tone is the writter’s attitude in the poem

The researcher will use Herman J. Waluyo’s teory to analysis a poem “Suicide in the Trenches” by Siegried Sassoon  to know how an intrinsic elements that contain in this poem. To get clearer and more details about it, will be presented on the analysis below.

Analysis

In a poem “Suicide in the Trenches” by Siegried Sassoon the researcher will analysis physical and psychological elements in the poem according to Herman J. Waluyo (1995) in his work Teori dan Apresiasi Puisi.

Suicide in the Trenches

By Siegried Sassons               

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.

Psychal elements

·         Interpretation

the interpretation of this poem “Suicide in the Trenches” by siegried Sassoon is a boy who has dark future. His life in empty joy dan lonesome dark during world war and he choose to suicide with shut his head with gun.

·         Imagery

Through from this poem the author wants to show the condition of a boy when world war. The author show how hard’s life of someone when in war. They never feel happy because they always cowed and glum. The researches known it from:

I knew a simple soldier boy

Who grinned at life in empty joy,

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

·         Diction

In this poem researcher found the diction is kindling eye. In fact the eyes actually cannot kindling like fire.

·         Rhyme

The researcher found the rhyme of this poem which has symbol a,a,b,b,a,a,b,b,a,a,b,b. In first, second, fifth,nine and teh line have same rhytem. Third, fourth, seventh, eight, elevent, twelve have same rhyme.

Psychologycal elements

·         Theme

The theme of poem “ Suicide in the Trenches” by Siegried Sassoon is gluming in life when war happened.

·         Atmospher

the atmospher of this poem is symphaty, and sadness. Because researcher after read this poem feel symphaty and sad.

·         Feeling

The feeling of this poem is desperate because the author show a boy’s life that dark and never happy because he there in war so he suicide in the trenches.

·         Tone

The tone of “Suicide in the Trenches” is satire because the author has give chritic about the war and the life of a boy.

·         Social message

Don’t be desperate although the life is not easy and too hard. Always fighting to make life more beauty.

Conclusion

The poem “Suicide in the Trenches” by Siegries Sassoon uses the theories from According Herman J. Waluyo’s theory (Teori dan Apresiasi Puisi:1995), according the theory, there are two structures of poem. They are psysical structure and psychologycal structures. but  This poem don’t have figurative language because in this poem the author uses denotative word. The poem describe about life in the war and a boy who desperate caused this condition.  The tone of this poem is satire because the author give chritic of the boy who suicide. The atmosphere of this poem is sympathi.