Break of Day in the Trenches

Break of Day in the Trenches by Isaac Rosenberg

James Babcock, Ashley Davis, Sophie Hughes, and Katja Weber

The break of day in the trenches

7.Droll rat, they would shoot you if they knew

8.Your cosmopolitan sympathies

9.Now you have touched this English hand

10.You will do the same to a German

11.Soon, no doubt, if it be your pleasure

12.To cross the sleeping green between.

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7) Talking to a rat: explaining that other people would shoot it

8) Rat is sympathetic to all cultures

9) Rats touched the soldier's hand

10) Rat will move on to the Germans

11)Rats likes eating the dead people

12)Rat crosses no man's land

Literary Device #2: Symbolism

Literary Device #3: Alliteration

Literary Device #4: Personification

Lines 5 and 12

"As I pull the parapet's poppy" (Rosenberg, 5)

"To cross the sleeping green between." (Rosenberg, 12)

1.The darkness crumbles away.

2.It is the same old druid Time as ever,

3.Only a live thing leaps my hand,

4.A queer sardonic rat,

5.As I pull the parapet's poppy

6.To stick behind my ear.

Lines 23, 24, 25, 26

Summary

"Poppies whose roots are in man's veins" (Rosenberg, 23)

"Drop, and are ever dropping;" (Rosenberg, 24)

"But mine in my ear is safe--" (Rosenberg, 25)

"Just a little white with the dust." (Rosenberg, 26)

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19.What do you see in our eyes

20.At the shrieking iron and flame

21.Hurled through still heavens ?

22.What quaver--what heart aghast?

23.Poppies whose roots are in man's veins

24.Drop, and are ever dropping;

25.But mine in my ear is safe-

26.Just a little white with the dust.

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19: What do you see in our eyes (asking rat what the rat sees)

20: At the shrieking iron and flame (bombs and grenades - other weaponry during WWI)

21: Hurled through still heavens? (bombs and other weaponry exploding and going through clear skies)

22: What quaver - what heart aghast? (quaver - shakiness in voice/aghast - horror or shock)

23: Poppies whose roots are in man’s veins (Poppies mean death - in veins - men are dying)

24: Drop, and are ever dropping; (poppy roots are dying therefore people keep dying)

25: But mine in my ear is safe - (with the man in the trenches - away from war)

26: Just a little white with the dust (dust from being in trenches and debris from past attacks)

13.It seems you inwardly grin as you pass

14.Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes,

15.Less chanced than you for life,

16.Bonds to the whims of murder,

17.Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,

18.The torn fields of France.

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13 the rat looks like it’s grinning/is secretly happy as it passes by the speaker, and-

14 people with strong eyes, fine limbs, and are arrogant and athletic/are in good shape-

15 who have a lower chance at surviving than the rat

16 they are people killed by others who were murdering them/the things bonded to murder/the results of murder

17 with their bodies/body parts Spread out over the ground

18 the ground of the battlefield of France

1) The darkness goes away

2) The same old time as always

3) Only a living thing leaps into my hands

4) An odd mocking rat

5) As I pull the low bearing wall of poppies

6) To stick behind my ear

"Break of the Day in the Trenches" is about a soldier in WWI that is explaining the life of soldiers when they are out on the battle field inside of trenches.

-In the poem, the act of picking a poppy off of the ground is juxtaposed by a rat that approaches and touches the speakers hand.

-The author compares the rat's situation with that of a soldier.

-The speaker observes the animals ability to survive in the harsh battle field while a soldier, with strong eyes and limbs is so easily killed.

-The overall Tone of the poem is very depressing. Almost every one of the 26 lines in the poem has to deal with death in someway.

Literary Device #1: Imagery

Work Cited

Lines 1, 3, 5, 9, 17, 20, 21

"The darkness crumbles away." (Rosenberg, 1)

"Only a live thing leaps my hand," (Rosenberg, 3)

"As I pull the parapet's poppy" (Rosenberg, 5)

"Now you have touched this English hand" (Rosenberg, 9)

"Sprawled in the bowels of the earth," (Rosenberg, 17)

"At the shrieking iron and flame" (Rosenberg, 20)

"Hurled through still Heavens?" (Rosenberg, 21)

Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Trench Warfare." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 June 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

"Isaac Rosenberg." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Scheck, Raffael. "Firstworldwar.com." First World War.co,- Germany During World War One. N.p., 22 Sept. 09. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Simkin, John. "Spartacus Educational." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Strachan, Hew. "BBC - History - British History in Depth: Overview: Britain and World War One, 1901 - 1918." BBC News. BBC, 03 Mar. 11. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Trench Warfare

• "A type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
• Stretched for miles
• Incredibly dangerous
• 1/3 of casualties in Western Front
• Disease ran rampant
• Bad conditions
• Slowed down the war(Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Trench Warfare." Encyclopædia Britannica. )

Germany in WW1

• Lost the war
• Part of the Axis Power alliance
• Wilhelm II
• Austria-Hungry declared war first (1914)
• Germany and Russia declare war on each other
• Fought a two front war (Scheck, Raffael. Germany During World War One.)

No Mans Land

• "Disputed ground between the front lines or trenches of two opposing armies" (In Merriam-Webster's dictionary, 2014)
• In between opposing armies trenches
• Dangerous
• 10-100's yards wide
• Barbed wire
• Lasting impact (Simkin, John. Spartacus Educational.)

Britain in World War One

Historical Background: Isaac Rosenberg

• Part of the Allies
• Entered the war in August 4th, 1914
• Faced some of the least casualties
• Only 11.5% of soldiers died
• Won the war (Strachan, Hew. "BBC - History Britain and World War One")

• 1890-1918
• British jewish poet and Artist
• Childhood: Not the best
• Limited early schooling
• Faced discrimination
• Drafted into the army
• Sent poems home
• Died in combat (Isaac Rosenberg." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation)