There is a split in all countries when talking about war being wasteful as half of the people believe war was an amazing experience for the soldiers and the other half believe war was a complete waste of time and should never had happened. The author of Dulce Et Decorum, Wilfred Owen and the author of Homecoming, Bruce Dawe use similar poetic devices throughout their poems to give the audience a strong visualization what it was like in the trenches for the soldiers and the impact war had on the soldiers, their families and their community. The main theme within both poems, ‘war is waste’, is presented through the various techniques Dawe and Owen used. Dulce Et Decorum and Homecoming both use the poetic device, repetition throughout their …show more content…
In addition, his use of participle ‘ing’ words, which he uses to repeat, endorses the loss of identity of the soldiers who died fighting for their country. This is shown in the words repeated such as; “picking, bringing, zipping, tagging, giving” which are used to describe the dead soldiers who are coming home. The phrase used a lot throughout the poem, they’re bringing them home is not to represent a happy home coming, but to represent the harsh welcoming the dead soldiers are receiving. Similar to Homecoming, Dulce Et Decorum uses repetition through the use of ‘ing’ words. The ones that stood out most was; He plunges at me, guttering, chocking, drowning. The word guttering was used to describe the tears streaming down the face of the unfortunate man, a symptom of inhaling toxic gas. This phrase pulled on a lot of emotions as it allows you to see what it was the author saw. Repetition was a way to let the audience know just how important their messages were and how desperately they wanted people to know what the war was like, personally and …show more content…
The phrase coughing like hags compared the soldiers, who had just been fighting for their country, to hags. That presents a meaning of war being wasteful in that there was no respect for those soldiers. Homecoming shows the thematic simile in the 16th line, “in their sterile housing they tilt towards these like skiers” to indicate the soldiers in their coffins on the plane coming home to their families. Both Homecoming and Dulce Et Decorum use a lot of imagery throughout the two which is used to give the audience a real visualisation of the main theme, ‘war is waste’. The authors use descriptive language and comparison to get the effect of war being wasteful across to the audience, which both Owen and Dawe have done well. Dawe’s imagery gruesomely portrays the gathering of the dead and differentiating them into categories. He separates the civilization of the dead by their hair; “curly, crew-cuts and balding”. The purpose for this was to enhance the central theme, ‘war is waste’. A major example of the imagery shown in Homecoming is in the first nine
Homecoming (1968), a narrative piece of elegy by Bruce Dawe delineates the Australian soldiers who died in Vietnam war. The whole poem’s tone appears to be ironic and the tempo is inexorable as if the appalling episodes of soldiers are occurring unremittingly. The title itself is ironic because when I think of homecoming it’s something celebratory and lots of partying. But within this poem, Dawe doesn’t
In conclusion, “Dulce et Decorum” by Wilfred Owen is a poem written with the clear purpose of destroying the heroic tradition by telling the truth about war. It doesn’t sugar coats the ugly reality of war, but describes in vivid disturbing details. Even if the poet died during the battles of the Great War, we can be very grateful that some of his works survived to tell the tale as it is. Not noble, regal nor godly, but
War is a scandalous topic where peoples’ views differ as to what war is. Some people see it as pure evil and wicked while others think that it is brave and noble of what soldiers do. Looking at poems which had been written by people affected by war help show the messages which are portrayed. The two sets of poems which show different views of war as well as some similarities are “the Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, “The Song of the Mud” by Mary Borden. Both these poets use linguistic devices to convince the reader of their view of what the war is. Tennyson and Lovelace show how war is worthy
One is to think of war as one of the most honorable and noble services that a man can attend to for his country, it is seen as one of the most heroic ways to die for the best cause. The idea of this is stripped down and made a complete mockery of throughout both of Wilfred Owen’s poems “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. Through his use of quickly shifting tones, horrific descriptive and emotive language and paradoxical metaphors, Owen contradicts the use of war and amount of glamour given towards the idea of it.
The title “Homecoming” symbolises irony because the soldiers never return home. This poem is in free verse which shows the deeper meaning of what happens in the war always stays with you. “They’re zipping them up in green plastic bags” is
Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively conveys his perspectives on human conflict through his experiences during The Great War. Poems such as ‘Futility’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ portray these perceptions through the use of poetic techniques, emphasising such conflicts involving himself, other people and nature. These themes are examined in extreme detail, attempting to shape meaning in relation to Owen’s first-hand encounters whilst fighting on the battlefield.
Embracing plastic bags and shouting at a loss that cannot be compensated are the melancholies experiences in life. Lots of mothers pray and wait anxiously at the door to take in their heroes. Afterward suddenly, they lose their hope when seeing the green plastic bags along the floor. The poem “Homecoming” symbolized the young soldiers who have died on the battlefield and subsequently brought home in body bags. The soldiers intensify the sadness in this poem as they perish in a terrible way instead of supplementing their lives while getting old day yet day. In this poem, Dawe explores repetition in “all day, day after day” to emphasize the arrival of a nameless body which is hence different from the heartfelt joy extended to a loved one. The
“Dulce et Decorum Est” is a poem written by English soldier and a poet, Wilfred Owen. He has not only written this poem, but many more. Such as “Insensibility”, “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, “Futility”, “Exposure”, and “Strange Meeting” are all his war poems. (Poets.org) His poetry shows the horror of the war and uncovers the hidden truths of the past century. Among with his other poems “Dulce et Decorum Est” is one of the best known and popular WWI poem. This poem is very shocking as well as thought provoking showing the true experience of a soldiers in trenches during war. He proves the theme suffering by sharing soldiers’ physical pain and psychological trauma in the battlefield. To him that was more than just fighting for owns country. In this poem, Owen uses logos, ethos, and pathos to proves that war was nothing more than hell.
These sections allow for a change in emotion as each represents a separate part of the ‘homecoming’: Saigon describes the packaging of the bodies and how the soldiers are zipped up in green plastic bags; the flight represents the travel home, which metaphorically could also be their souls to heaven; and the third section is the arrival of the bodies in Australia. The use of pronouns gives the first two sections an emotionless feel as we do not learn specific names or information about the victims. However, when the scene changes to urban Australia in the final section the emotion changes to grief and regret for the families. The emotion of the speaker is indicated by signature language, the poet describing how “telegrams tremble like leaves from a wintering tree” and “small towns where dogs in the frozen sunset raise muzzles in mute salute”. Comparing the telegrams fluttering to the ground to leaves falling from a tree in winter reinforces our assumption of the tragic news contained within the telegrams: the “wintering tree” is clearly a metaphor for death and hence we know that enclosed within the telegrams is notification of the soldiers’ demise. Equally moving is the reference to man’s best friend mourning its loss, the poet describing how the dogs respectfully acknowledge the precious
Similar to Anthem for Doomed Youth, the idea of dehumanisation in 'Dulce ET Decorum EST Pro Patria Mori' is also introduced early in the poem. The first lines, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks", and "Knock-kneed, coughing like hags" both describe the condition in which young people of the war suffered through. The similes allow the audience to visualise the soldiers more accurately. They are portrayed somewhat so weak and devaluated, look and feel much older than they are; in general, not at all possessing the qualities
This extract shows that when someone dies, or gets so injured they cannot keep on fighting, there is not a lot of respect given to them. The word ‘flung’ indicates this, illustrating the fact that they are not provided a lot of care; and that they are just one person in about 20,000,000 who will not survive the war.
Another tool in developing the effectiveness of the poem is the use of compelling figurative language in the poem helps to reveal the reality of war. In the first line, the metaphor, ?Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,?(1) shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. Also, the simile "coughing like hags"(2) helps to depict the soldiers? poor health and depressed state of mind. Owen makes us picture the soldiers as ill, disturbed and utterly exhausted Another great use of simile, ?His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,?(20) suggests that his face is probably covered with blood which is the color symbolizing the devil. A very powerful metaphor is the comparison of painful experiences of the troops to ??vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues.?(24) This metaphor emphasizes that the troops will never forget these horrific experiences. As you can see, Owen has used figurative language so effectively that the reader gets drawn into the poem.
In Dulce Et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen makes war seem horrific. When describing the soldiers, he says ‘Coughing like old
The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen are two poems which were written during the First World War, and both being written about this conflict, they share the same theme of war poetry. However, the two poems deal very differently with the subject of war, resulting in two very different pieces of writing.
Throughout Wilfred Owen’s collection of poems, he unmasks the harsh tragedy of war through the events he experienced. His poems indulge and grasp readers to feel the pain of his words and develop some idea on the tragedy during the war. Tragedy was a common feature during the war, as innocent boys and men had their lives taken away from them in a gunshot. The sad truth of the war that most of the people who experienced and lived during the tragic time, still bare the horrifying images that still live with them now. Owen’s poems give the reader insight to this pain, and help unmask the tragedy of war.