Futility and Falling Leaves Paragraph

P. In Futility, Owen uses a metaphor to compare clay with the Earth: Q. ‘Woke once the clays of a cold star.’ E. The clay could also represent people as in The Bible, Adam is created out of clay by God. By comparing both evolution and religious imagery he juxtaposes the two belief systems. However, ultimately, Owen argues that to evolve to the state where all we do is fight, it pointless, or futile just as the title. P. Postgate Cole also uses a natural image in her work, Falling Leaves. Q. ‘Like snowflakes wiping out the noon.’ E. Unlike the clay of Futility, she uses a simile to compare people to snowflakes. This seems like a gentler image as – just like the snowflakes – the soldiers are all unique. However, the sheer number of snowflakes to obliterate the noon, when the sun is at its hottest, brings home the amount of soldiers who die. Winter is a season associated with death, and so it seems appropriate that she sets this poem at this time of year – regardless of the Armistice connotation of November. Both these poems use imagery to create a melancholic effect on the reader.