An interesting idea conveyed in a convincing way in the poem "Suicide In The Trenches" by Siegfield Sassoon, is the idea that war is bad.
It is indicated in the line "the hell where youth and laughter go". When you hear the word "hell", you get negative connotations such as pain, suffering and evil. It is showing that war is like being in hell. It is also shown by the words "youth" and "laughter". Those words show that the men who go to war are actually young and innocent, and them going to war is a bad thing. They are being sent off to fight for their country, and they are only young boys, and basically they are going to hell. The poet also accuses the reader in the poem, as shown by the line "you smug-faced crowds with kindling eye". He is saying that is the reader's fault that this war is going on, and that this young man in the poem committed suicide. .
Another interesting idea conveyed is the idea of propaganda in the poem "The Send Off" by Wilfred Owen. The young men and boys are told that going off to fight for their country is a great honour, and that they should go. The women and children are also telling them that they will make them proud if they go off to war. But in reality war is horrible, and it is not a good thing. Propaganda is shown in the line "nor there if they yet mock what women meant who gave them flowers". This means the women are ok with sending the men off to war, they were throwing flowers at them, saying "have a good trip" but really most of the men won't come back, because they will die in the war. The women are told that war is a good thing, and that the men will be heroes if they go to war.
One more interesting idea conveyed is the idea of irony in a poem. There is irony in the title of Siegfield Sassoon's poem "The Hero". In the poem, the Brother Officer tells the mother lies about her son, who tried to run away from the war, but got killed. He told her that "Jack fell as he'd have wished", when really he was a "useless swine".
