This study will apply the Sociocultural-Historical and Biographical Approaches. Sociocultural-Historical Approach is used because it is appropriate
approach to apply in analyzing the poems using the history time line and moments that happened that time, in this study specified in the Second Battle of Ypres as
part of the First World War. Rohrberger and Woods 8 mention that Biographical approach is the
necessity for an appreciation of the ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of the literary object. This approach insists that a work of art is a
reflection of a personality that in the esthetic experience of the reader shares the author’s consciousness and that at least part of the reader’s response is to the
author’s personality. According to Mario Klarer 90-91, biographical approach gives a direct
link between the literary text and the author’s background, which means that inside the author’s works there is a connection between the author’s life and the
text in the literary works that he or she creates. The biographical approach is also useful to analyze the author’s
background of creating his or her works which might also be important to catch the meaning of the literary works. However, it is important not to go too deeply
because the main discussion is not on the author but on the works.
b. Intrinsic Elements of the Poem
Guth and Rico 472 say that poetry can be enjoyed and appreciated by everyone. Sometimes with poetry we even can have communication. Poems
demand our attention. They use a language richer in meaning than ordinary talk.
As we read and study poems, we become more sensitive to the poet’s language. Poem has some meanings that are usually different from the literal
meaning of the words. Abcarian and Klotz 1099 says, “Words have dictionary or denotative meaning as well as associative or connotative meanings; they also have
histories and relationship with other words”. Poems must first be read for their literal meaning. Then after we grasped
the literal meaning of a poem, we can proceed to its figurative language. Parini 9 says that “The implicit, often hidden reality that the poem is trying to suggest”.
According to Guth and Rico 482, “To give the poem a close reading, take as much as you can be open to whatever the poem has to offer”
It is important to understand the use of figurative language in this study. In order to have one relevant information for the discussion, I believe it is necessary
to present a brief discussion on figurative language. Barnet, Bermon, and Bruto 768 state, “Words have their literal meaning, but they can also be used so that
something other than literal meaning is implied”. In analyzing the poems I used the intrinsic elements of the poems that are
included in the figurative language. Since John McCrae uses a lot of symbols in his poems, therefore, here I limited the intrinsic elements into personification, and
symbol. The following is explication of some intrinsic elements of the poems discussed in this thesis.
According to Kennedy and Gioia 676, “Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an animal, or an abstract term is endowed with human
characteristics”. Personification allows an author to dramatize the nonhuman
world in tangibly human terms. “Personification is a metaphor or simile that treats something non-human as if it were human”
Symbol can be defined as a person, place, or thing in a narrative that suggest meanings beyond its literal sense. Symbol is related to allegory, but it
works more complexly. In an allegory an object has a single additional significance. By contrast, a symbol usually contains multiple meanings and
association. According to Guth and Rico 561, “A symbol is something that you can see but that taken on a meaning beyond itself”.
B. Historical Review of World War I
