What Might Have Caused Soldiers To Change In World War Poetry

Wilfred Owen‘s poetry significantly conveys his perspectives on human conflict through his encounters amid the The Great War. Poems such as The Next War and Dulce et Decorum Est. Owen’s poetry is a representation of the conditions soldiers faced within the times of World War I, from 1914 to 1918. These poems depict these perceptions through the use of poetic techniques and features, to communicate serve as a commentary on the human condition as experienced by Wilfred Owen in relation to the violence of war during World War I. There is a distinguished shift from a romantic view of war to a disenchanted, distorted and disillusioned broken man. This is due to his experiences in the war, emphasising on such conflicts, involving, war and disaster,

As I was looking through poems from World War I, one really caught my attention. In Flanders Fields by John McRae. This poem is heartfelt and is filled with powerful meaning that is written from the fallen soldier’s point of view. It’s about the soldiers who sacrificed themselves during the war. However, the soldiers want everyone to keep fighting instead of feeling sorrow.

The First World War was a war of many firsts. Not only was it the first true contemporary war, but it was also the first war that introduced new forms of industrial warfare, which resulted in many repercussions. One of these repercussions was the development of shell-shock or neurosis as a result of war in soldiers returning from the battle front. In “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Enrich Maria Remarque the psychological effect of industrial warfare on soldiers was depicted as a paradoxical combination of exhilaration on the battlefront as well as a deep state of numbness and melancholy.

It was very common for the soldiers to come back with some form of mental scaring. Many soldiers had the following symptoms, nightmares, flashbacks, concentration problems, as well as distress, if there is a situation that reminds them of what had happened to them when they were on the battle field. There were very few soldiers that lived past the age of 65 due to the traumas of war. A study that was commenced by Harvard University Alumni, where they found that approximately 56% of the World War Two soldiers

Wilfred Owen wrote about the suffering and pity of war from his first -hand experience at the Somme. He was appalled by the overwhelming and senseless waste of life, the “human squander” and detailed its devastating effects on young men. In both ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Mental Cases’ he writes with intense focus on war as anextraordinary human experience. The poems also document other experiences, the living hell of shell-shock in ‘Mental Cases’ and a cruel and grotesque death from mustard gas in

Over in the fighting field things were much worse for the soldiers living in such poor conditions some wouldn’t even wish on their worse enemy. They often got little to no sleep caused by the fear of being attacked or even the gunfire and bombs happening to close for comfort. Some would lose their minds before even seeing unseeable things. This led to many soldiers having PTSD which affected the lives of many

Poetry is an effective art form used to express the many values within society. Throughout the ninetieth and twentieth centuries, poetry and the arts have been used as a significant media for communicating political propaganda, and as a means to encourage patriotism within young men to fight and die for their country. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ underpins this notion, exemplifying the ‘glory’ and honour of dying in battle for one’s country, during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean war (1853 -1856). However not all war poetry signifies heroic propaganda, Wilfred Owens poem Dulce et decorum Est, provides a contrasting theme and illustrates the traumatic and distressing influence war has upon men, during the conflict

As proven by various poems written throughout history, it is true that poets represent war as ennobling or devastating, according to their societies’ views. Rupert Brooke proved this statement in 1914, when he reflected society’s views of World War One as ennobling, in his poem “The Soldier”. Wilfred Owen then reflected his society’s new negative attitude towards war in 1917, with his World War One-themed poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”. Siegfried Sassoon also showed that society thought of war as a devastating event, with his experiences reflected in his statement to his commanding officer, entitled “Finished with the War: A Soldier’s Declaration”, and his poem about World War One, “Suicide in the Trenches”, published in 1917 and 1918, respectively.

An estimated 10 million soldiers died in World War One, many of whom would have gone on to do great things. One soldier, however, managed to secure a legacy for himself that had nothing to do with fighting but everything to do with the war. Wilfred Owen is one of the most recognized war poets from the First World War, and his poems are some of the most truthful from that time as well. He is credited with portraying the war as what it really was rather than glorifying it like Tennyson or other war poets (“Dulce et Decorum Est” 108). Owen spent his entire short life loving poetry and expanding his own style of writing.

After doing several hours of preliminary research, I am going to write my paper on the World War I poets and how their poetry reflects their disillusionment of the war. As of right now, I plan to focus my research paper on Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen. Initially, when researching World War I poets, I was very intrigued by the utilization of rhetoric and nationalist propaganda to encourage the old romantic ideas of duty, valor, and courage from the public. However, I noticed the required readings for class displayed the unpleasant accounts of war that those who did not serve in the war were completely oblivious about. Therefore, I will begin my paper by briefly discussing the poets’ lives and their attitudes regarding the war prior to actually serving. I will find evidence of their attitudes prior to war in some of their literary works. Then, the main focus of my paper will be how the World War I poets display their disillusionment of war throughout their literary works and how their attitudes shifted once they served in the war.

Poets of WW1 use various poetic techniques such as metaphors, similes, imperatives, biblical references, alliteration, rhetorical questions, personifications, sibilance, irony, ellipsis, contrast and rhyming in their poetry to depict the horror and destruction caused by war, and send a powerful message to their readers. Wilfred Owen's 'Futility' and 'Dulce et Decorum Est', Siegfried Sassoon's 'Suicide in the Trenches' and Herbert Read's 'The Happy Warrior' are all poems which reflect on this, as well as depict the psychological and physical damage the war has on the young soldiers and convey a profound pity towards them.

World War 1 is historically one of the darkest time periods on an international scale. It was the cause of devastating widespread destruction and the loss of over fifteen million lives. As an effect, World War 1, which was emotionally jarring, came some of literature's masterpieces, especially within the genre of poetry. Two of the most notable poems from the war are “ The Things That Make a Solider Great” by Edgar Guest and “ Dulce et Decorum Est.” by Wilfred Owen. The poems both depict World War 1 but the two differ greatly in terms of tone, message, and usage of literary devices.

Often, poetry is used to portray the highlights of this life or maybe even some of the small bumps we encounter along the way, yet, none really compares to that of war poetry. World War I, much like any other war, was nothing shy of a horror story. Innumerable deaths, traumatizing situations, and the lives of returning soldiers changed forever were, and still are, products of war. From our side, we have our own idea of what war might be like, but Wilfred Owen and Isaac Rosenburg choose to give us a small glimpse of what “serving our country” is about. Both men chose to write about the harsh realities of war and while these poets have several differences, they share very common ground: educating many about reality of war. Having both been affected

Throughout Wilfred Owen’s collection of poems, Owen explicitly utilizes a distinct range of techniques and forms to dissect the brutal and horrific nature of war. His poems plays fundamental role in how we perceive war as we come to understand and build rapport of the contexts and events behind his poems. By examining the composition of, Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum Est, Owen presents the unavoidable carnage and destruction of war whilst revealing the deterioration of the human spirit through the ironic nature of its celebration. He offers sarcastic criticism abandoning political values and romanticized views of war, subverting the glorification of war and the enticement of young men to their deaths. Owen also influences his audience giving them a lens into warfare exposing the suffering and pity of war while capturing the extremities of the human condition as well as the pointlessness of war itself. Overall, Wilfred Owen’s work elevates the contexts and events of his own experiences, whilst developing and transforming our understandings of war through its didactic purpose, evocative language and ability to retain textual integrity.

With many of Owen’s poems being semi-autobiographical recounts of his experience of war, Owen’s viewpoint on war is tremendously clear. Many countries viewed World War I as an easy war to win, and one that would be over relatively quickly. It was also heralded as a huge patriotic honour to your country to become involved. Many young boys got swept up in the promise of honour and joined, Owen, only 22 at the time, was one of them. He, like every other young soldier wanted to uphold the honour of his country, but after only a few short weeks, Owen’s perspective shifted dramatically. A love of poetry from a young age prompted him to continue writing while hospitalised for Shellshock with the encouragement of Siegfried Sassoon, and soon the poetry he wrote showed the general public what it was like on the front line and the graphic reality of human suffering on the battlefield. In particular was his distaste for the main point of war – the extreme loss of human life, as Owen described it – ‘dying as cattle’. All of Owen’s poems had