"Coughing like old hags". This conveys the image of men who have been subjected to the terrors of open warfare for such a long time. The word “hags” gives an impression of men aging while dying, slowly wearing away. Owen then writes “Men marched asleep.” This conveys an image of soldiers marching in darkness, exhausted from battle just like zombies erupted from the dead going on blindly with no choice.
Duffy begins her poem by illustrating a photographer is in his darkroom, where he is about to develop his film. He is 'finally alone', which suggests that he has been waiting for this moment for some time. The films are described as spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. As these are war photographs, the shape and layout of the spools might remind us of body bags laid out ready to be flown back home. The photographer in his darkroom is compared to a “priest preparing to intone a mass”. This simile is very evocative and consequently effective. You must picture in your mind the image of inside of Catholic Church, with the red light that always hangs near the sanctuary. This suggests that developing the film is somewhat like a holy action. It tells us something about the photographer's view of his work - he develops the pictures with respect as well as anticipation. “All flesh is grass,” The final line is sharp in contrast to the gentle image of a Mass, containing as it does the names of war torn cities chosen for their harsh alliterative names.
The tone and messages are displayed in different ways in both poems. Owen shows a harsher tone while Duffy is more reflective on what has happened. Duffy and Owen have used powerful images at the beginning of their poems to convey their thoughts and opinions about war. Throughout Duffy’s poem, conflicting images are constantly displayed. The safety and relative innocence of what is bluntly described as “Rural England” is a conflicting image to “running children in a nightmare heat,” which shows the danger and horror of war. This gives a very motive and realistic tone contributing to the poem’s intention to make the reader understand the seriousness of war. The clashing of images between safety and danger shown here contrasts two settings to change our own perspective of war.
Duffy again uses conflicting images later on in her poem, but this time it is between reality and the imaginary. Duffy increases the pace of the poem with an abrupt sentence: “Something is happening”. She then portrays what is happening, “A stranger’s features faintly……..A half-formed ghost. Duffy uses images of unreal beings (i.e. the ghost) to describe the photos developing displaying an eerie tone. Duffy then immediately contrasts this statement, “Remembering the cries of this man’s wife”. The contrast made here brings the photographer back to reality. This shows the intensity of suffering both emotional and physical embraced by people involved in the war. The cries of a man’s wife show that suffering is not only inflicted on the individual but his family as well. The photographer sees this and sympathizes making this personal. The photographer in this poem has experienced the reality of war. The photographer has seen the suffering and pain shielded from the public. The horrific experience of war brings a great deal of anguish.
“A hundred agonies in black-and-white”. A hundred agonies show real emotion and unsimplicity while black-and-white is simplistic and is what the reader sees. Here Duffy uses a contrast of images to convey that what the public views of war are only the censored version, of which everybody would like to believe. It is harder to understand the real truth so it is protected from them. The conflicting images here are sarcastic and dismissive to stress the importance of it. “From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns a living and they do not care,” the photographer feels nothing as he is staring at his reality. The image of safety in the aeroplane looking down on all the conflict and bloodshed shows that the photographer can escape war, but the soldiers are left behind to face it.
In “Dulce et decorum est” Owen says “And floundering like a man in fire or lime,” to create an image of men trapped in war like animals in a cage struggling to be released. All these helpless men are trapped in war, their lives burning. They are suffocated to the point where they are lost in the midst of blood shed. This conveys images of Entrapment and disbelief, as the men are bedazzled and fighting for their lives. They are trapped in an endless maze of gas and suffering, “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light.” These brave soldiers are engulfed in translucent hopes. They become paranoid of what’s to be encountered as the eerie green gas clouds their vision. All this shows that this poem reveals a very strong and powerful tone.
Owen displays suttle anger by saying “His hanging face like a devil sick of sin.” He conveys images of desperation and disappointment in one’s self. The men have become relentless and lost their Desires. Owen uses alliteration here to highlight contradiction.
"Haunting; blood-shod; limped; sludge; drowning like a man in fire; guttering, choking," The words Owen uses are definite and concrete - there is no doubt left in our minds as to what is happening. Owen exaggerates his point to graphically portray the picture of these exhausted soldiers, so tired that they ignore the sounds of dropping shells. They have no boots, and their feet are drenched in blood. He relates the panic of the soldier who is unable to fit his gas mask in time and the sense of helplessness of the narrator as he watches the poor soldier suffering. It is Owen's description of the effects of the gas that is particularly graphic and descriptive. He leaves us in no doubt as to the horror of the sight. He wants to shock us - to let us feel the sense of disgust and frustration felt by all the soldiers as they witness the soldier's struggle to breathe. At no point in this poem does he make use of euphemisms. He is very clear about the horror of war.
Owen exposes the real truth of war that it is not all filled with glory and honour but pain and sorrow. To end his poem he says “The old lie: Dulce et decorum est patria mori,” which is Latin for “It is sweet and fitting thing to die for one’s country”. This is his message. All the images discussed of this poem reveal the true horrendous aspects of war to change the reader’s perspective. The powerful images he has created of suffering and blood shed has given the message that war is something to prevent and regret, and not something to be proud of.
Owen’s description of war gives a very powerful and negative impression on its readers. He is trying to show the real truth about war and not what is shielded from the public, which is similar to what Duffy illustrates in her poem. Duffy displays a negative tone throughout her poem (like “Dulce et decorum est”).
In conclusion I think both poems have clear messages which are conveyed by the poets use of powerful imagery. Owen and Duffy have proven that they can touch their readers and make them aware of something they never knew before. War is not something to be proud and have honor over, but avoided and regretted. Suffering, pain and death is no price to pay for one’s own country.
