These 2 texts are both powerful but have a very different view, the poem expressing that war is the worst thing while the song expresses that the leaders are the problem in war. Though the themes are different, the texts are both written about World Wars and that they are ruthless and unforgiving.
Carl Sandburg’s representation of war is, war causes a lot of damage that takes a lot of hard work to rebuild. Roger Waters’ representation of war is that it isn't the problem, but the leaders that are part of the war. Waters’ song is especially cynical of leaders targeting them specifically instead of the war that happens. While Waters’ song is specific on the leaders, Carl Sandburg’s poem also shows that the leaders are Immoral, showing that both texts are negative about the leaders, though Sandburg’s poem focuses more on war than the leaders of war. In Sandburg’s poem he writes “smash down the cities, knock the walls to pieces” showing that he thinks the soldiers cause a lot of damage and havoc, and also states “You are the soldiers and we command you” showing that the soldiers are being controlled and made to do this. While Sandburg shows that the leaders are bad in a discreet way, Waters goes straight into the song showing the leaders are corrupt, blindingly obviously.
Waters’ song states “Did they expect us to treat them with any respect they can polish their medals and sharpen their smiles”, making it seem that the leaders are nothing but people who try to make a good appearance but they are all evil on the inside. Waters also states “the fletcher memorial home for incurable tyrants and kings and they can appear to themselves every day” also showing that he has a very negative outlook on the leaders. It is in the poem that we realise that the 2 poems are very similar, showing that mostly in part the leaders are to blame for wars that are caused and for all the destruction in the world. While some people are definitely against the leaders, others are more against war.
While Waters is much more negative of a lot of things, in his song which he does express, Sandburg decides to take a more humble approach to the way he expresses things. But Waters has a much more powerful evocation of his expression making it more clear what he is trying to achieve and criticise, Sandburg is very vague in the way he shows his expression of his poem. In this way Waters’ song evokes more emotion and is stronger than Sandburg's. Sandburg’s poem is a short poem but gets to the point very quickly and is quite a short text in comparison to that of Waters'.
Carl Sandburg’s representation of war is, war causes a lot of damage that takes a lot of hard work to rebuild. Roger Waters’ representation of war is that it isn't the problem, but the leaders that are part of the war. Waters’ song is especially cynical of leaders targeting them specifically instead of the war that happens. While Waters’ song is specific on the leaders, Carl Sandburg’s poem also shows that the leaders are Immoral, showing that both texts are negative about the leaders, though Sandburg’s poem focuses more on war than the leaders of war. In Sandburg’s poem he writes “smash down the cities, knock the walls to pieces” showing that he thinks the soldiers cause a lot of damage and havoc, and also states “You are the soldiers and we command you” showing that the soldiers are being controlled and made to do this. While Sandburg shows that the leaders are bad in a discreet way, Waters goes straight into the song showing the leaders are corrupt, blindingly obviously.
Waters’ song states “Did they expect us to treat them with any respect they can polish their medals and sharpen their smiles”, making it seem that the leaders are nothing but people who try to make a good appearance but they are all evil on the inside. Waters also states “the fletcher memorial home for incurable tyrants and kings and they can appear to themselves every day” also showing that he has a very negative outlook on the leaders. It is in the poem that we realise that the 2 poems are very similar, showing that mostly in part the leaders are to blame for wars that are caused and for all the destruction in the world. While some people are definitely against the leaders, others are more against war.
While Waters is much more negative of a lot of things, in his song which he does express, Sandburg decides to take a more humble approach to the way he expresses things. But Waters has a much more powerful evocation of his expression making it more clear what he is trying to achieve and criticise, Sandburg is very vague in the way he shows his expression of his poem. In this way Waters’ song evokes more emotion and is stronger than Sandburg's. Sandburg’s poem is a short poem but gets to the point very quickly and is quite a short text in comparison to that of Waters'.