Even though they were written during the same period, both poems are completely different. They contrast in content, language, structure, tune, imaginary and message.
“The soldier" and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” are about soldiers dying for their country. Nevertheless, they have very different content. Owen poem describe us the cruel death of a soldier during a gas attack and the feeling of guilty of his companion after seeing his sad ending. On the other hand, Brooke tell us about who his death and the death of many British soldiers will enrich the earth of “ foreign fields” as he describes them. Brooke’s poem is full of patriotism, for example “If I should die think only this of me/ That there’s some corner of a foreigner field / That is forever England”. Brooke poem tell us about the good things of dying and even sounds perfect to died in a war and Owen portrays the image of grotesque death in the field during the war. This difference is mainly due to what poets experience. It is probable that if Brooke had experience war his poems could have change of point of view.
The structure and the language both poems have very little similarities and many differences. One similarity is the consistency of their rhyme scheme. Both poems have a regular rhyme scheme, this is because… The language Owen’s use in the poem is very informal and colloquial. For example when he wrote “Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots / of disappointment shells that drop behind”. The poem doesn’t have a formal stanza laid out, the first stanza has eight verse and the third only two verses. By not using “ceremonial” words and not having formal stanza laid out, Owen try to point us again that the war is not elegant or has formal structure. Brooke poem is quite different, he is language and the structure of the poem is very formal. This suggests that his way of thinking of war is very formal and by some means without suffering.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” is full of similes and metaphors, For example, “Bent double like old beggars, under sacks/ knock-kneed, coughing like hags” or “ his hanging face, like devil’s sick of sin” the use of the similes and metaphors creates a strong images for the person that is reading it and make the poem more effective. Owen wanted this, so you can imagine and feel the suffering of the soldiers. “The soldier” didn’t use similes or metaphors. The poem doesn’t create strong images as “Dulce et Decorum est”, it is more calm and I think less powerful.
The tune in “The Soldier” is very solemn and worshipful of England during the entire poem. In contrast the Dulce et Decorum Est’s tune is first very disillusioned and disinterested. As if the soldiers were doing a routine of killing and going back but at the same time is very heart-broken. In the second stanza the tune becomes melodramatic and desperate, Owen wrote “Gas! Gas! Quick boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling / But someone still was yelling” You can feel how speaker is desperate and feels impotence. The last stanza the poet’s tune is of dislike for all the people who make the young boys fight for nothing.
Both poems give a totally different message. Brooke try to tell us that dying for the country is the proper thing to do and that if you died during the war you will enrich other parts of the world. It is a very patriotic poem and it help to understand what English people thought of the war before it started. Owen thought quite the opposite, he believe that the war was the worst thing you could live in and told us that the war wasn’t the proper thing to do because the only result of it was the death of many young man. This poem describe us what people thought of the war when they lived in it.
In Conclusion, both poems are different from each other. They have a different view of war. I personally like more “Dulce et Decorum est” because of his powerful imagine and language. The soldier was for me very patriotic and superficial, but I could imagine that was the feeling in the whole world in that time.
Jazmin Botello
