Often, personal experiences are what influence a poet’s writing. Since the 1600s and up until World War One, poets have been heavily impacted by the glorification of war, as well as the catastrophic losses the world has suffered from. Poets such as Richard Lovelace and Lord Tennyson glorified the sacrifices soldiers made for their countries and honored them. While poets like Mary Borden and Wilfred Owen expressed their outrage towards war because they have witnessed the brutality and wickedness of it. In the two poetry collections, diction is the main factor in establishing the tone and theme of each poem.
The two poetry collections are set in different eras. For example, the first collection was set in the 1640s, a time known as the Victorian era. This era was also known as a time when war was not the only
…show more content…
The poem refers to the trench warfare the soldiers occupied in. The tone of Borden’s poem was sarcastic and she helped establish that tone by using sarcastic diction, including “The pale yellow glistering,” “covers the hills like satin,” and “the thin elastic mud.” These lines support her sarcastic tone by almost making mud seem satisfying, and letting it appear alive to indicate the active role mud played in trench warfare. Another example of diction used in the poem is “He has set a new style in clothing; he has introduced the chic of mud.” In this line, Borden’s diction is ironic - as well as sarcastic - since mud is not chic, but rather putrid. The second poem in the collection was written by Wilfred Owen, one of the most known poets of World War I. The title of his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” was inspired by the Roman poet, Horace’s Odes, whose poetry was taught in British schools, which Wilfred attended. The purpose of the poem is to share the cruel experience soldiers go through during the war. “Bent double, like old beggars under
In the first stanza of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, the reader is instantly drawn in with “Bent double”. This gives the poem a feeling of immediacy which is then followed up by a detailed description of what is to come. “Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs/ Men marched asleep/ Many had lost their boots but limped on.” The reader is yet again, drawn into the graphic scene of war. The alliteration “Knock-kneed” emphasises the battle weariness of the soldiers and intensifies the way they depicted war. Owen creates rhythm throughout the stanza by littering the poem with pauses. He uses this technique in the line “All went blind; Drunk with fatigue; death even to the hoots Of tired”. Owen makes the scene more vivid by bringing in his own involvement to war with “we cursed through the sludge”, he uses the term “sludge” to help capture the agony which was being experienced by the soldiers.
Literature and poetry are a reflection of society. The words are reflected in numerous feelings that we can almost touch and can be deeply felt in its reach. Most poets expressed their perception and emotion through their writings. Unfortunately the art and poetry describes one of the worst things that human can do to one another. The legalized murder called "war." Hence, this type of self-reflection called "poetry" has help create new fundamental ideas and values towards our society. In this essay, I will discuss the issue of the "War Poetry" during the "Great War" along with comparing and contrasting two talented renowned poets; Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) and Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967).
In this essay you will notice the differences and similarities between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was written in nineteenth century by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written in the twentieth century by Wilfred Owen. The main similarity we have observed is that they both capture war time experiences. However, the poets’ present these events using their own style, and the effect is two completely different observations of war.
Owen’s poem vividly depicts the horrors of war and, Borden’s poem describes the soldier's struggle with the horrors of the appearance of the trench mud. The speaker in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” role shifts from being an observer of the gassed soldier to being immediately involved in his suffering, as the soldier “plunges at” the speaker. This shift suggests that the horror of war never leaves someone who has lived through it; even today, the speaker sees the soldier plunging at him. In “The Song of the Mud”, The speaker describes the mud as glistening, golden, beautiful, mysterious, gleaming, and silvery. She compares it to satin and enamel and a crown and ermine. This conflicts with the image of the mud as obscene, filthy, putrid; a slimy nuisance, with voluminous lips and a distended belly. The speaker uses this contrast to show the danger and deadliness of the mud. The “beautiful glistening golden mud” is also the misery of all soldiers and the grave of many. The speaker means that the mud hides the truth about the war zone. You can’t tell just how many men have died, or how horrible or violent their deaths were because the glistening mud covers
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is another of Wilfred Owen’s poems that conveys inner human conflict, in terms of past doings in World War I. The poem was written in 1917 at Craiglockhart (Owen’s first battle after his rehabilitation due to ‘shellshock’). It portrays an inner change in his approach to war and it’s gruesome environment:
The two poems, “To Lucasta, going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen are both devoted to the subject of war. Lovelace’s poem was written in the 17th century and as well as almost all the poetry of the period has romantic diction. The war is shown as something truly worthwhile, glossed and honorable for a man. The protagonist is leaving his beloved for the battlefield and his tone is pathetic and solemn. He calls the war his new mistress and asks his beloved woman not to be jealous as love to her is impossible for him without honor. In this way the overall mood of the poem is idealistic and heroic. The protagonist refers to war as a thrilling adventure and even affection. The tone of the Owen’s poem
World War One poets Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen both use poetry to examine their differing perspectives surrounding the idea of heroism in war. Brooke’s The Soldier depicts an idealistic, patriotic view towards fighting for his country, whereas Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est demonstrates a realistic view of the senseless horrors of war. Both poets utilise similar poetic techniques of imagery and sound devices to express their contradictory views of the atrocious events of the greatest war that the world had ever seen at that time.
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.
“In his poetry, Wilfred Owen depicts the horror and futility of war and the impact war has on individuals.”
Compare two poems by Wilfred Owen, showing how they reflected contemporary attitudes to the ‘Great War’. Refer closely to language and poetic techniques.
In both poems Owen shows us the physical effect of war, Wilfred starts the poems showcasing unendurable stress the men were going through. Appalling pictures are created and expressed through similes and metaphors. Owen’s lexical choices link to the semantic field of the archaic which conveys the atavistic effects of war. The men are compared to old beggars, hags, the once young men have been deprived of their youth and turned into old women, the loss of masculinity express the how exhausting and ruthless war was. The men were barely awake from lack of sleep, they “marched in sleep” their once smart uniforms resembling “sacks”. He also expresses how
In the poems “Dulce et Decorum Est,” by Wilfred Owen and “The Soldier,” by Rupert Brooke the authors tend to use diction, figurative language, and voice to express their attitudes towards the war. While they both use similar characteristics towards the war they also have highly different ones. The first poem, “The soldier” uses diction, rhyme scheme, personification, and voice to show that he thinks it is great honor to die trying to fight for your country. In the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est” the author uses voice, rhyme scheme, similes, imagery, and diction to express that while fighting for your country is great you truly don’t know the great horror men go through.
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke are poems about war which treat their subjects differently. Both poems are examples of the authors’ perceptions of war; Owen’s being about its bitter reality and Brooke’s about the glory of dying for one’s country. The poets express their sentiments on the subject matter in terms of language, tone, rhyme, rhythm and structure. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ has very effective language by using diverse methods such as alliteration, onomatopoeia and diction. The tone is unyielding and vivid imagery is used to reinforce it, primarily by means of compelling metaphors and enduring
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.
Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson are two poems that evaluate and analyze war. Many people who have served in war turn to literature as an outlet for their experiences, but people who have never fought often write about it as well. These two poems are a great example of the differences in connotations of war due to level of interaction with it. However, despite distinct variations in attitudes and messages, the use of figurative language and the theme of war provide similarities among the two.