Both “The falling leaves” and “Futility” each present death as the underlying theme throughout the course of the poem. For example in the “The falling leaves”, “brown leaves dropping from their tree” is used as a metaphor for the soldiers dying. The leaves falling from the tree represents the soldier’s deaths and compares the amount of the soldiers dying to the falling of the leaves in autumn. The tree represents a country which is losing its men to unnecessary violence which is similar to a tree shredding its leaves. I believe Margaret Postgate Cole created this extended metaphor to show the extent of all the deaths and the effects felt on a country. As Margaret Postgate Cole was a young woman during the war years, she was not allowed to fight for her country. She was left with the important job of maintaining the country or looking after the injured but she would have still suffered the effects of the war.  This is similar to “Futility” which is about trying to revive a dead soldier. For example “if anything might rouse him now” is used by Wilfred Owen to suggest that there is a chance the soldier might be alive. However, both the reader and Wilfred Owen know that the soldier is already dead. Owen is creating the image that the sun gives life but because of the horrific act of war the sun is giving up on humanity as the sun will not “rouse” the soldier. Owen is showing the extent of the damage caused by war and the devastating effects it has on the world.  Both Postgate Cole and Owen are presenting the effects of death on a country in each of their poems.

Both “The falling leaves” and “Futility” each present death in their poems by using conations of the cold. For example in “The falling leaves”, “like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay” is used to create the idea of snowflakes falling and covering the ground then fading away. This is because a single snowflake will fall then fading from memory which suggests that the bodies of the fallen will fall and fade into history and be forgotten. “Snowflakes” also connotes the idea of bodies littering the fields of Belgium. Postgate Cole is suggesting that there are so many bodies that both light and hope are being blocked out. This creates a cold and bitter tone in the poem which shows Postgate Cole’s hatred of the waste of life the war causes. This is similar to “Futility” which uses the cold to connote the hopelessness and emptiness war causes. For example “and this snow” is used to create a shift in tone that indicates hope might be lost and the soldier is dying. “Snow” also mimics the language of doubt and is a metaphor for hopelessness. Owen does this to emphasize hopelessness of the soldier’s conditions on the front. Owen uses the metaphor of “snow” to connote the amount of soldiers falling and the emptiness this leaves behind. Both Postgate Cole and Owen are presenting the effects of death and the cold numbness this leaves.

Both “The falling leaves” and “Futility” each present death in their poems by using the absences of a personality. For example in “the Falling leaves”, “they fell” is used to represent the fallen soldiers and create an absence of personality. Postgate Cole may have done this to show the extents of the fallen or to show their names are a part of a massive group not an individual.  Postgate Cole is suggesting that the extent of death throughout this period is a waste as it has become impossible to distinguish a single name. The absence of a name and personality also could be an extended metaphor to show that death is indiscriminate and will claim both the young and old. This is similar to “futility” which also has the absence of a personality in the poem. “Him” is used throughout the poem to suggest an absence of personality and create a sense of the unknown. “Him” also suggests that the person in question has passed away. Owen may have done this to suggest to the government of a country that they do not require people, just machines to do their bidding or that the absence of personality makes the reality and brutality of war more bearable. Both Postgate Cole and Owen are presenting the effects of death and suggest war cause an absence of personality.

Both “The falling leaves” and “Futility” each present death by using oxymoron’s to present ideas about death. For example in “the falling leaves”, “beauty strewed” is used to show the beauty of life and the beauty of the fallen. The oxymoron of beauty and strewed exists as a mess cannot be beautiful. “Strewed” is used to represent the mass of bodies which are scattered across the fields of France and Belgium and “Beauty” is used to represent the beauty of life and that the fallen are quite young and beautiful. Postgate Cole is showing that the young are fighting and dying in the war and becoming part of the huge number of fallen and yet the individuals remain beautiful. Postgate Cole dose this to show that the soldier’s love ones will always remember the soldier as beautiful amongst the backdrop of a terrible mess. This is similar to “futility” which also contains a powerful oxymoron. For example “clays of a cold star” is used to show that the sun and humans are turning their backs of each other. The oxymoron of cold and star exists as a star cannot be cold. Owen uses cold to connote the idea that both the humans and the sun are giving each other the cold shoulder. The humans by killing one another and the sun by not revive the fallen. By doing this Owen creating a sad and bitter tone of hatred, as humans will not end the suffering and as the sun cannot bring back the body back. Both Postgate Cole and Owen are presenting the effects of death on a loved one and other soldiers.

Both “The falling leaves” and “Futility” each present death within the structure of their poems. For example in “the falling leaves”, “on the Flemish clay.” is the only line in the poem with a full stop; this suggests that the poem is one sentence. Postgate Cole may have decided to structure her poem like this, as a good poet will keep the structure tight to show the poet is considering a serious point. As Postgate Cole has used this structure feature in her poem it shows the reader that the war and the massive loss of life is an extremely serious point. I believe Postgate Cole wanted to stress the seriousness of her poem, as her poem is an extended metaphor. This is similar to “futility” as Owen uses half rhythms to create a structural feature. For example “sun” and “sown” are half rhythms, Owen included half rhythms as a regular rhythm scheme would have made the poem sound pleasant and upbeat. However as Owen used half rhythms the poem sounds broken and replicates the bullets, guns and explosions that would have been heard at the front. Owen did this as the sounds of the front were unpredictable and suggests that home life is broken as the men are dying needlessly because of war. Both Postgate Cole and Owen are presenting the theme of death through the structure of their poems.