We read a lot of literature works about the 9/11 event in recent classes. After discussing Pakistan author Mohsin Hamid’s post 9/11 novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, we moved to the modern poetries that were also written under 9/11 or war background in last week’s classes.
The first poetry we saw in class was the September 1, 1939, by W.H. Auden written after the taking place of World War 2. During our group’s discussion on September 1,1939, we felt that this poetry was a kind of comforting to readers instead of writing the details of death and loss caused by war. I had really scarce chances to engage with English modern poetry in my previous studying period. Most poems I get to know in my previous education were all written in ancient time China and were classical style of Chinese which are far distinct from the modern poetries. Classical Chinese poetries tends to quite different from modern English poetries. There are very strict rules on the rhythm that should be used in every single piece of classical poetry in ancient China. In this way, classical Chinese poetries sounds more beautiful when you read it out. What similar to the modern poetries is that we can still feel poets’ worries about the safety of the country and usually along with the glorious future they expected the generation would had. Although those poems were written in a totally different language and style, it can always be a tool for people to express their own emotions.
It also reminded me of the modern poetry I learnt in my high school English class which also talks about war. Unlike September 1, 1939, that poetry focuses more on describing the horrifying of the battleground and the sacrifice of comrades-in-arms during the war. Although I did not remember exactly the name and the poet, I can still recall the feeling of cruelty bloodiness while I was reading over the poetry. That poetry, in another way, also discloses the tragic influence of war to people.
