‘Drunk with fatigue,’ is an expression to say the soldiers are so tired that they are no longer sane anymore. Here Owen is using the word drunk to give you an image of someone really drunk that can barely walk to show there immense tiredness. ‘Deaf even to the hoots of gas-shells dropping softly behind.’ This gives us the image that the men are somewhat oblivious to the war that is continuing around them. Personification is used to describe the shells as ‘tired,’ which gives the impression that the writer thinks the war is pointless.
In the second stanza there is a sudden change in the mood. The pace unexpectedly speeds up and the sad, slow mood that was displayed previously is changed to a much faster, frantic mood.
‘Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!’ emphasises the speed of this section and that they need to move fast to survive. They give us an image of everyone running around in a mess by saying ‘an ecstasy of fumbling’. The word ‘ecstasy’ is ironic as it gives the impression of happiness and yet the complete opposite would be expected. It gives me a picture of everyone running around in a complete frantic.
‘Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,’ is used to create the image that the process must be fast as it is life threatening and dangerous around. It also creates the image that it is really important that they put their helmets on before the destruction that will follow. Alliteration is used on the next line to emphasise that there is just one person left. ‘Someone still was yelling out and stumbling.’ This gives me the image that the soldier was in a severe state and panic. They have used words here like ‘clumsy’ and ‘stumbling’ to portray the frantic movements of the soldiers and to show that they are still very weak and tiered.
The writer then uses a simile ‘As under a green sea I saw him drowning.’ This gives us the image that the soldier is really suffering and struggling to live as the gas has polluted his lungs. The reader can imagine a man slowly sinking in to thick, dirt and deep water as he helplessly moves about but nothing can be done. Owen in this stanza has used a lot of metaphors, fewer commas and longer sentences to give us a surreal feeling.
In the third stanza it is as if the writer has taken a step back and reviewed the situation. Owen only used two lines as they make such an impact. He describes his sight, as being ‘helpless’ implying that the writer wanted to help the soldier, but is virtually impossible for him to do so amongst the fuss. Furthermore, it creates the impression that the writer was also in danger and all that was surrounding him was very confusing and disorderly. Owen then uses the word ‘plunges’ to illustrate that the suffering soldier then makes one more attempt to be saved. The words ‘guttering, choking, drowning.’ Is then used to show that the soldier really is experiencing a horrific death. These are examples of onomatopoeia and used to really emphasise the pain that he is suffering.
In the final stanza the speed quickly accelerates. This is done by the use of fewer lines and syllables. Owen throughout this stanza addresses the stay at home war enthusiast who thought the war was a good thing. They are the ‘you’ of the poem.
The gassed man was ‘flung’ into the wagon. This shows us that the soldiers where in a rush to quickly move the body. It also shows the little respect they were treated with after they had given their life. Using the word ‘flung’ also suggests that they where thrown carelessly on to the wagon like rubbish.
The writer then describes in graphic detail how the physical appearance of the soldier had changed, obviously trying to shock the reader and show how the war was such a disgusting experience. ‘Watch the white eyes writhing in his face’ uses alliteration to emphasise how devastating the scene was. ‘Writhing is normally associated with snakes and this is also a connotation. Following this, the image that is showed is that the soldier’s face had dropped and now extremely repulsive. ‘His face hanging like a devil’s sick of sin,’ is a simile this comparison implies that his face was corrupted and evil.
The rest of the description is still just as graphic and frightening to the reader. The blood is described as ‘at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs’. This can be a real disturbing thought it describes in detail exactly how the man was being tortured. He describes this ‘bitter as cud’ which is regurdtuated food. He uses all these similes so that people can imagine exactly what it was like as they were not there.
Owen calls the words Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori a lie because if the country treats its hero’s this badly, why should it been seen to die for it. This means it is sweet and honourable to die for ones country. Owen is questioning this because where is the honour in dying from a gas attack, and what good that does for ones country.
In the first stanza of ‘The Sentry’ it creates an image in your head of all the soldiers hiding out in a trench away from intense bombing. It creates this image by ‘we’d found an old Boche dug-out, and he knew, and gave us hell, for shell on frantic shell Hammered on top’. ‘Boche’ is a slang word for Germans so the writer is saying that the Germans knew where they where hiding so was trying to bomb them. He uses the word ‘Hammered’ to emphasise the intensity of the bombing and also this is onomatopoeia as it sounds like its meaning. It then goes on to say ‘Rain guttering down in waterfalls of slime,’ this portrays an image of really heavy rain which is falling over the side of the dug out bring all the muck with it. The writer tells us ‘Kept slush waist high and rising hour by hour,’ This also emphasises the amount of rain that is falling as he give us this impression by repeating ‘hour by hour’. This also makes me think that they have been in the dug out for a long time with bombs being fired at them. He then goes on to describe the smell they where experiencing he does this by ‘What murk of air remained stank old, and sour with fumes of whizz-bangs, and the smell of men who’d lived there years, and left their curse in the den’. This is in detail and spends a few lines describing this awful smell. It gives me a feeling that the air is really thick and grey from the dust of the bombs disturbing the soil.
The second stanza starts with ‘There we herded from the blast of whizz-bangs,’ Owen uses the word ‘herded’ to show that the men where all huddled together for protection like cattle or sheep. This gives us the image that all the soldiers are frightened and want to protect their selves. He then goes on to say ‘but one found our door at last,’ here he is telling us that after hiding for so long away from the bombs one had finally hit in front of their door in the dug out.
Owen then uses the words ‘thud! flump! Thud!’ to bring to life the fall of the sentry. These words are examples of onomatopoeia as they sound like the fall. The fall sounds like it is in 3 stages the first ‘thud’ is like the sentry falling hard on to the steeps as it is a dense sounding word. The ‘flump’ is liked soft and helpless fall as if the sentry has just flopped on to the mud. And the second ‘thud’ is again like a hard fall as if the sentry has just hit the bottom next to the door. He also uses ‘!’ to emphasis the fall and give it extra impact. Owen also uses words like ‘thumping’ and ‘sploshing’, which are more examples of aural imagery.
Owen uses direct speech to tell us that the sentry has been blinded by the blast. By giving the sentry a voice of his own, Owen makes events more personal. The sentry is speaking directly to the reader, which is more engaging. He tries to make the reader imagine what it is like to be blinded by a bomb that makes your eyes ‘huge-bulged like squids’
Owen is trying to shatter the readers’ illusions of war and trying to make them realise that it’s a horrific job.
Owen then writes ‘Watch my dreams still; but I forgot him there in posting next for duty, and sending a scout to beg a stretcher somewhere, and flound’ring about’. Here it shows the writer had to leave the sentry to attend other duties. Owen felt that there was no room for sentimentality, although Owen has care for the injured man, he had to get on with other duties. Owen had to find a replacement and find a stretcher to help the sentry.
In the whole of the final stanza Owen is reflecting back on what he has seen and suffered. ‘Those other wretches, how they bled and spewed, and one who would have drowned himself for good,’ this suggests that soldiers could have been suicidal or considered. Owen refers to his men as ‘wretches’ which creates and image of worthless, unhappy and miserable creatures. This word also has negative implications such as hopeless and despair because of what they have suffered and the extent of it. But Owen tries not to remember these things now, as they are too upsetting, traumatic and depressing. He also says ‘Let dead hark back for one word only’ which implies that he hates going back to revisit the past but one word can just trigger al of the bad memories.
In the final line Owen thinks he hears the sentry saying ‘I see your lights’ this could have two interpretations to it. First it could be that the sentry could now see light that links to when Owen held the candle to his eyes. This would mean that he could see again. Or secondly it could be that the sentry is having a near death experience.
Overall from reading and analysing the two poems I got the impression that Owens attitude to war was negative, very angry and also that he felt that the war was pointless and a waste of life. Owen also felt that the level of death and suffering was unnecessary. War had shown to have a deep psychological effect and that it haunts him. Owen gave me the impression that he was angry with the people at home who glorified the war with no experience of it and bitter at the way war is presented. Owen wants to tell the truth about the suffering endured by ordinary men.
Owen also wants the readers to understand the truth about what happened in the war and to feel sympathetic towards the soldiers. Owen really wants to shock people out of complacency and wanted people like Jessie Pope to feel guilty about the things they where saying. Furthermore to this Owen creates the impression that he is really against war.
