Falling Leaves - The Hazeley Academy

Poetry Across Time
Conflict
Introduce
Falling Leaves
By Margaret Postgate Cole
Establish
Is this really a
poem about leaves?
Establish/Discuss
Falling Leaves
By Margaret Postgate Cole
Dame Margaret Cole was born in Cambridge in 1893 and died in
1980. She wrote about politics and history and became a
pacifist. She campaigned against military conscription when her
brother (whose claims to be recognised as a conscientious
objector had been rejected) was jailed for refusing military
orders. In the 1930s she gave up her pacifist views however, in
response to the Third Reich in Germany and Franco's
dictatorship in Spain.
“Postgate is representative of a generation of women
whose lives were traumatised by the war and the terrible
barrier of knowledge that existed between the sexes."
Authors's Ideas and Background
Background Information:
World War One (1914–18) is sometimes called the Great
War – ‘great’ here meaning ‘immense’ or ‘huge’, because
it was unlike previous wars. Firstly, it involved everyone,
not just the army and navy. Secondly, and probably
most devastatingly, it involved the first modern
weapons (machine guns, bombs and gas) at a time when
soldiers were still involved in hand-to-hand combat. The
horror of the trenches is hard for us to grasp fully.
However, many of the young soldiers who had signed up
believing they were on an heroic mission to defend their
families, country and way of life felt betrayed by those
who had persuaded them to enlist. The reality of war
was shown in their poetry and later – for those who
survived – in their novels.
As Margaret Postgate Cole and other women poets of
World War One have shown in their work, it was not
only the men who suffered as a result of the war.
Women’s lives were affected too, not least because of
the millions of young men who died, all borne by women,
and many loved by women. So, while male poets of this
generation can tell us about the agony of trench
warfare, women poets voice the despair, anguish and
endurance of women, waiting, wondering and grieving.
In this poem, a tree dropping its leaves leads to
thoughts of the thousands of young soldiers dying in
their prime in the trenches. The pastoral imagery at
the start of the poem becomes a contemplation of the
death toll in Flanders, and vividly illustrates how the
horror of war overshadows every area of life, even a
peaceful ride in the countryside.
Establish
The Falling Leaves
November 1915
Today, as I rode by,
I saw the brown leaves dropping from their tree
In a still afternoon,
When no wind whirled them whistling to the sky,
But thickly, silently,
They fell, like snowflakes wiping out the noon;
And wandered slowly thence
For thinking of a gallant multitude
Which now all withering lay,
Slain by no wind of age or pestilence,
But in their beauty strewed
Like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay.
MARGARET POSTGATE COLE
Poem
The Falling Leaves
November 1915
Today, as I rode by,
Sounds I saw the brown leaves dropping from their tree
peaceful In a still afternoon,
Technique?
- why is When no wind whirled them whistling to the sky,
Suggests?
this odd? But thickly, silently,
They fell, like snowflakes wiping out the noon;
Imagery?
And wandered slowly thence
Praise
For thinking of a gallant multitude
Shows?
for who? Which now all withering lay,
Links to?
Slain by no wind of age or pestilence,
But in their beauty strewed Suggests?
Like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay.
Melts into?
MARGARET POSTGATE COLE
Emphasises what?
Focus Qs
Interpreting the text:
1
Imagery
What extended metaphor is used
in the poem?
Structure
Track the punctuation of the poem.
What do you notice? Is this significant?
Sounds
Track the sounds of words in this poem.
What do you notice?
Skill: Interpreting the Text
Endings:
Slain by no wind of age or pestilence,
But in their beauty strewed
Like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay.
Reflection...
* What is the significance of the
words 'slain' and 'strewed'?
* What impression do we get of
the poet's attitude towards
war?
* Why is the comparison made to
snowflakes? Explain your ideas.
Skill: Symbolism
Look at the images below:
Can you find the quotation/idea
that they refer to?
Question Time!
1. How does the poet create an atmosphere
of sadness in the poem?
2. What details connect the leaves
falling and the soldiers dying?
3. How does the poet show a sense of regret?
4. How does the poet feel about the soldiers that have died?
5. What is the poet's attitude towards war and how does she
portray this is the poem?
Quick Questions
Perhaps
To Roland Aubrey Leighton (1895-1915)
Perhaps some day the sun will shine again,
And I shall see that still the skies are blue,
And feel once more I do not live in vain,
Although bereft of You.
Perhaps the golden meadows at my feet
Will make the sunny hours of spring seem gay,
And I shall find the white May-blossoms sweet,
Though You have passed away.
Perhaps the summer woods will shimmer bright,
And crimson roses once again be fair,
And autumn harvest fields a rich delight,
Although You are not there.
Perhaps some day I shall not shrink in pain
To see the passing of the dying year,
And listen to Christmas songs again,
Although You cannot hear.'
But though kind Time may many joys renew,
There is one greatest joy I shall not know
Again, because my heart for loss of You
Was broken, long ago.
VERA BRITTAIN
(1920)
Additional: Women's Poetry of WW1
To My Brother
In memory of July 1st, 1916
Your battle-wounds are scars upon my heart,
Received when in that grand and tragic 'show'
You played your part,
Two years ago,
And silver in the summer morning sun
I see the symbol of your courage glow -That Cross you won
Two years ago.
Though now again you watch the shrapnel fly,
And hear the guns that daily louder grow,
As in July
Two years ago.
May you endure to lead the Last Advance
And with your men pursue the flying foe
As once in France
Two years ago.
VERA BRITTAIN
(1918)
Additional: Women's Poetry of WW1
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
JOHN MCCRAE
Additional
In Flanders Fields
Sickened by what he had seen during the Boer War, John
McCrae nevertheless signed up in August 1914, and headed
for France with his horse, Bonfire, in tow. He would have
found few opportunities for riding in that hell on earth.
Knee deep in mud and freezing water, men's feet rotted
where they stood, waiting for the next attack of gas to
insinuate its way down the trenches, or the signal to go
"over the top", often into direct machine gun fire.
McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields" the day after presiding
at the funeral of a friend and former student. McCrae was
to number among the 9,000,000 fatalities that the war
would claim.
Poppy seed will lie in the ground for years if the soil is
undisturbed. That churned up cemetery known as the
Western Front provided the ideal medium for masses of
poppies to blanket the graves. By the 1920s, Legion
Branches were selling the paper flowers to: provide
assistance to needy ex-servicemen and their families, to
build housing for seniors, and support programmes like
meals-on-wheels, drop-in centres, etc. Like ‘The Falling
Leaves', the poem relies heavily on visual imagery.
Additional
Links:
Biography of Poet:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wcole.htm
Historical information about November, 1915:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/
1915_11_11.htm
Women's Poetry of WW1:
http://allpoetry.com/column/show/2168221
Links and References