The titles of the pieces are ironic “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “dulce et Decorum est” which means it is fitting and right. In the Poem everything is tired in the first stanza “Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines” This is a hyperbole as bombs don’t become tired. The whole of the war became a sluggish battle. It is also a slow pace to start with in the prose with men looking forward to getting back the huts for some rest.
“I wish I were back home. Home - he means the huts”
In the second Stanza the pace becomes ecstatic with a gas attack. In the prose there is also a gas attack that raises the tempo. “Gas! Gas! Quick boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling” and “Gas–Gaas-Gaaas-Pass it on.” Towards the end of stanza two it slows down as if in a dream
“Misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea,
I saw him drowning”
Owen uses fewer words that Remarque so they use different diction. ”Bitter as the cud” is from “Dulce et Decorum est” which coincides with the syntax. The effect of this is very powerful. The syntax is disjointed and very clipped. When the pace is quick the syntax is short and when it is slow and instructive the syntax is long. In “All Quiet on the Western Front” the syntax doesn’t change too much. It has time to describe the surroundings, time scale and people involved.
There is no doubt that both writers are anti war. In the poem Owen tells the public how to behave. He points the finger and gives the piece moral overtones. The tone is imperative you 2nd person is powerful “you would not tell with such high zest.” The piece of prose is also anti war because nobody could condone the details he gives us. Remarque is non-judgmental and not disapproving. He is only reporting and sympathising but never lets his feelings get involved. He wants the reader to get involved and make a decision but he tries to push you towards anti war thinking. Owen’s stanzas 1 and 2 are the nearly the same as the piece of prose. The poem is vitriolic and shows this with the words “obscene as cancer” which is a powerful word. The other very powerful phrase is “Bitter as the cud.” Which was feared by all. It was incurable sores.
Personally I prefer the poem “Dulce et Decorum est” as it has a strong message and it expresses it well. I enjoy the pace and structure of the poem. To know someone who was in the War has written it seems to give it an extra dimension. It uses different styles of writing. Descriptive in the first stanza. Narrative in the second stanza and then what to do in the future.