Isaac Rosenberg dead man's dump - critical essay

Essay by CherylMcintyreJunior High, 9th grade November 2002

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The poem "Dead Man's Dump" written by Isaac Rosenberg, a soldier in the first world war, has made a lasting impression on me.

He originally enlisted in the army in October 1915.

He was killed upon the western front in France on the first of April 1918.

He was twenty years old.

I believe that Rosenberg was trying to tell us that the soldiers that had sacrificed their lives in the name of duty were not getting the respect that they deserved.

As time goes on we may gradually forget what these men went through.

I especially found this poem intriguing for the fact that it is given from a soldier's point of view, without any trace of political glorification or mindless romanticism of war.

Throughout the poem he uses very graphic, sometimes grueling imagery.

"A mans brains splattered on a stretcher bearers face."

The word "splattered" is effective in that it is an onomatopoeia that sounds truly horrible in this context.

Even the title, "Dead Man's Dump" suggests a wasteland of distraught bodies left to rot because they have no meaning.

Throughout the poem there are religious connotations present such as "crowns of thorns", reflecting the crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear during his crucifixion.

"Rusty stakes like sceptres old." The stake, representing possibly the cross that Jesus was crucified upon, or the religious edifice of the stake used to sacrifice unbelievers or heretics by fire.

He also uses metaphors such as "The air is loud with death."

What he really means is that he can hear all these horrific noises around him; guns firing; bombs and shells exploding into shrapnel and the vicious scream of pain that lead to the death of his fellow soldiers.

In the poem the earth is personified, though it...