War poetry can be patriotic, anti-war, witness-based, or written by soldiers. Patriotic poetry honors soldiers’ sacrifices, while anti-war poetry condemns violence. Witness poetry is written by those who experience war’s effects, and soldiers’ poetry describes the experience of fighting.
The types of war poetry depend on the perspectives of the people who write it. There is patriotic poetry, which honors the sacrifice and courage of soldiers fighting for their country. Anti-war poetry sees no glory in war, only destruction and suffering. Witness poetry is written by those who experience the effects of war firsthand but do not participate in the fighting. Soldiers’ poetry describes the experience of fighting in a war.
Patriotic poetry celebrates and honors soldiers who fight and often die in defense of their country. Its purpose is to give dignity and meaning to their sacrifices. Soldiers are to be honored because they bring security and peace to their fellow countrymen. The English poet Rupert Brooke wrote in his World War I sonnet “Peace” that the fallen soldier leaves behind “Unbroken glory, a gathered splendor, / A breadth, a shining peace beneath the night”.
War poetry that speaks out against violence of any kind has been written by poets from all over the world in every era. It often has as its theme the illusion of glory and victory. The 8th century Chinese poet Li Po wrote in “Fighting South of the Wall” that “The wise know that winning a war/It’s no better than losing one.” In 8, the American poet Stephen Crane wrote the bitter and ironic “War is Kind”. The poem declares “Great is the god of battle, great, and his kingdom – / A field where a thousand corpses lie.”
Another body of war poetry is that of War Witnesses. They include civilian prisoners from concentration and internment camps. They experience a war as one of its victims. In the poem “We Will Never Forget – Auschwitz,” Holocaust survivor Alexander Kimel writes of his discovery of the gas chambers. “Later the children stiffen with death/People become a twisted load/Of intertwined limbs and glued heads with blood.” Much of the poetry about American WWII internment camps was written by Japanese children.
Soldier war poetry describes what it is like to be at war. Soldiers in war, no matter what country they represent, express in their poems a deep bond of love for their comrades. In “A piece of sky without bombs”, the Vietnamese poet Lam Thi My Da writes of a comrade killed in an American bombing. “We threw stones at the barren grave, adding our love to a growing heap of stones.” In the poem “Where are my brothers?” American poet Steve Newton seeks out his companions. A stanza of the poem indicates where he finds many. “Where have my brothers gone?/Sometimes I see them in a stone field/Or on a wall.”
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