2. Nature
• “The flowers left thick” in „In Memoriam‟ – there “should” be people
picking them but there is not anyone left to do so with their “sweet
hearts”, thus disrupting the cycle of nature itself. The flowers should not be
overgrown. This links to „As the Team‟s Head Brass‟ when “the lovers
disappeared into the woods”, which symbolises the couples being protected
by nature from the harsh realities of war.
• “The cherry trees bend over and are shedding” (The Cherry Trees) –
Represents the cycle of nature, as “shedding” is the process which takes
place after blooming which is a constant cycle that never ends, despite the
changes in humanity. Cycle of nature never stops and even though there
were so many deaths, spring will still change into summer.
• “Wild rain” (Rain) – “Rain” is an aspect of nature itself which is a source
of life for trees, so it is like God watering his trees, linking to „In
Memoriam‟ with the idea of the “Eastertide” and biblical references to
baptism where the rain is a form of cleansing the soul of original sin.
3. Death
• “Will do never again” (In Memoriam) – A final statement which consolidates the idea that
death is the end. The conventional way of stating this would be „will never do again‟ but the
way “will do” (a positive) contradicts “never again” (a negative) only stresses the fact that
death is final. No matter how much one mourns, death cannot be undone. This links to „The
Cherry Trees‟ where the trees were “bend[ing] over”, almost mourning over the death of the
innocent.
• “Shedding” (The Cherry Trees) – this can have multiple meanings to it. Firstly, the expression
“shedding” of tears is often heard of, and in this context, it almost personifies the trees as
shedding their petals as shedding tears. The other idea of “shedding” could be the shedding of
skin from old to new, symbolising new beginnings, linking to Easter in „In Memoriam (Easter
1915)‟. Death had claimed a whole generation of young men, and so, there were none to wed.
• “Blessed are the dead” (Rain) – The rain can be seen as baptising the dead, which once again
represents the spiritual cleansing properties of the rain. Death can also be seen as a release
from the harsh realities of War, because the soldiers did not have to fight any more. The rain
could also be seen as God taking pity on the dead, even giving them forgiveness for what they
had done.
• In „As the team‟s head brass‟, the death of one of the man‟s friends is seen to have affected
those at the Homefront as well as on the Frontline.
4. Change
• “Will do never again” (In Memoriam) – This is an aspect of change where
there was a time when lovers would walk through the “wood” before the
war, but now there are no men to accompany female sweethearts.
• “None to wed” (The Cherry Trees) – Similar to the quote “will do never
again” in the poem „In Memoriam‟, this quote emphasises the change of
there once being an abundance of people in the country but now everything
has changed, there is “none to wed”.
• “Blessed are the dead that the rain rains upon.” – It can be assumed that the
dead are full of sin for killing one another but the „dead‟ have gone from
being sinned to completely cleansed and purified.
5. Memory
• “In Memoriam” (In Memoriam) - The title refers to memory and
remembrance.
• “Trees” – The trees in „The Cherry Trees‟ could be seen as mourning the
dead. The trees are personified, and so the trees are given the human trait of
crying, seen through their “bending over” and “shedding” of their leaves,
which could be seen as tears.
• “Remembering again that I shall die” (Rain) – As if he is remembering a
forgotten promise, death is inevitable and one remembers it at some point
in life.
• “I sat among…” (As the team‟s head brass) – First person narration shows
his recollection of memories. Also, enjambment is used in this poem, which
shows the unravelling of each memory captured in his mind.
6. Realities of War
• “Will do never again” (In Memoriam) – We have this quote again, which
reflects upon the realities of war, the reality being that no matter what, war
will change humanity, and kill many lives and as a result, there are no
couples to pick the flowers, as most of the men have lost their lives at war.
• “All that passed are dead” (The Cherry Trees) – Again, the idea that a
soldier is highly likely to lose his life, war cannot be a glorious thing to be
proud of.
• “Remembering again that I shall die” ( Rain) – The reality of war is that
soldiers are most likely to die at war, and they always are reminded of it.
7. Love, Relationships and Human
Emotions
• “With their sweethearts” (In Memoriam) – The soldiers were taken away from their
“sweethearts” due to the war and most of them could never return.
• “Bend over and shedding” (The Cherry Trees) – The idea of the “shedding” of tears, which
what the loved ones of the soldiers had done on receiving the telegraphs which reported
deaths.
• “May morn” (The Cherry Trees) – “Morn” in this poem, is used to abbreviate the word
„morning‟, turning it into a blunt, monosyllabic word. However, there can be another meaning
to this. It could mean „mourning‟ where the families of soldiers mourned for their deaths.
• “None to wed” (The Cherry Trees) – A lot of the soldiers may have gone to war, leaving
fiancés that they were promising to marry, but as they have all died in the war, there was
“none to wed”.
• “Love of death” (Rain) – Usually “love” is portrayed to be between people but in this
poem, the speaker has gained a love for death, possibly because he no longer wishes to go
through the torment and take the easy way out.
• “Then the lovers came out of the wood again” (As the team‟s head brass) – These lovers are
mentioned at the beginning where they disappear into the wood, and then at the end as they
come back out, this could symbolise the cycle of love, how although relationships between
lovers at war may have ended, but the next generation of youths will fall in love.
Relationships between certain people may end due to circumstances, in this case the war, but
it will never end as a whole, i.e. at the end of the war.
