Anzac

1. Spirit of Anzac By Mike Subritzky

2. They clad us in the colours of the forest,

3. and armed us with the weapons made for war.

4. Then taught to us the ancient trade of killing,

5. and lead us to the sound of battles roar.

6. So give us comfort as we lay down bleeding,

7. and pray upon our cold and stiffened dead.

8. But mark our place that we might be accounted,

9. this foreign soil becomes our graven bed.

10. Now children place upon this stone a garland,

11. and learn of us each Anzac Day at dawn.

12. We are New Zealand's dead from distant conflict,

13. our sacrifice remembered ever more.

14. About the author • Mike Subritzky is one of New Zealand's best known war poets. He has an international reputation and his work appears in numerous books, CD's, and anthologies. His poetry and verse is often read on National New Zealand Radio on ANZAC day. • He is the first New Zealand poet to have his war poetry read at Westminster Abbey and the first to have his poetry read at ANZAC Corner, Hyde Park, London.

15. What is the poem about? This poem is explaining what happened and what they felt. It shows how they were armed for war and how they were killed and what they wanted people to do. It’s a good insight to war. Key points are uniform: NZ is forest colours Talks about ANZAC Day

16. What techniques have been used? • Rhyming couplets- War, roar, Dead, bed, • Metaphor- They clad us in the colours of the forest • Personification -lead us to battles roar

17. Sources • http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/MikeSubritzkyNZwarpoet_09.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mike_subritzky

18. How to die Siegfried sassoon

19. Dark clouds are smouldering into red

20. While down the craters morning burns

21. The dying soldier shifts his head

22. To watch the glory that returns

23. He lifts his fingers towards the skies

24. Where holy brightness breaks in flame

25. Radiance reflected in his eyes

26. And on his lips a whispered name

27. You’d think, to hear some people talk

28. That Lads go west with sobs and curses

29. And sullen faces white as chalk

30. Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses

31. But they’ve been taught the way to do it

32. Like Christian soldiers; not with haste

33. And shuddering groans; but passing through it

34. With due regard for decent taste

35. About the Author Siegfried Sassoon was a poet & soldier of the first world war. He was born in 1886 and lived long after the war ended and died in 1967. He is now respected as one of the leading poets of the first world war. His style of poetry describes war is it really was, terrifying and horrible, compared to many other poets of the time which glorified it.

36. About the poem The poem is about a dying soldier and the poet’s opinion of how soldiers “should” die. In the first paragraph he describes a dying soldiers final moments as he remembers the things he loves. In the second paragraph, he explains that although people think that “lad’s go west” with “sobs and curses”, they don’t. Instead, they die “Like Christian soldiers” with “due regard for decent taste”

37. Poetic techniques • Rhyme – It has a consistent AB AB rhyming pattern • Metaphors – There are a lot of indirect comparisons made such as “Dark clouds are smouldering into red”, where the poet is comparing the blood on the battlefield and the dull scene • Similes – e.g. “sullen faces white as chalk” and “Like Christian soldiers” • Idioms – “ Go west” is another way of saying “die” so “Lads go west with sobs and curses” would be “Lads die with sobs and curses”