Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell…”
These quotes show and portray how they knew they were going to die; however they rode into this hell with their heads held high, being incredibly brave.
“ All the world wondered…
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the light brigade,”
Tennyson portrays the soldiers as noble supporting Horace’s notion of ‘dulce et decorum’ as the world admired them as they went into war unsure of the fate that they would face.
Sir Alfred Tennyson also wrote The Revenge. It is about a sea battle at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1591. The Captain of the boat ‘The Revenge’ is Sir Richard Grenville. He is a noble character and in this poem he is the personified adaptation of ‘dulce et decorum’. In the poem Sir Richard Grenville is jingoistic in the way he is portrayed.
During the poem the Spanish fleet made their way towards his one boat The Revenge, at this point he knows he has got two choices, he can run away or he can do the noble deed and stay to fight. As Tennyson is very patriotic and Grenville is portrayed as ‘dulce et decorum’ he stays to fight the Spanish fleet.
“ Shall we fight or shall we fly?
We be all good English men. Let us bang these dogs of Seville.”
He believes that as good English men it is their duty to stay and fight and defeat the Spanish fleet. He portrays Horace’s notion of ‘dulce et decorum’ perfectly with his nobility.
“ To work the ship and to fight…
the Spaniards came in sight…”
Tennyson uses the rhyming couplets in The Revenge whenever he wants to bring out certain points in the poem. Tennyson truly backs up the traditional idea dating back to Horace, as he believed it was sweet and proper to die for ones country.
“ Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain…
Fight on, Fight on…
I have fought for Queen and faith like a valiant man and true…
But they sank his body with his honour down into the deep”
These are some of the quotes that show Grenville’s patriotic attitude as he says he would rather be with God rather than the Spaniards. He keeps on encouraging his soldiers to keep on fighting.
The way Sir Richard Grenville shows the soul of Horace’s quote is very honourable as later on in the poem he is dying but still says he is honoured to die for his country. The Spaniards respected his acts and the poem shows how a part of England died with him.
The Soldier is written by Rupert Brooke, at the start of World War I, 1914-1918. Brooke believed that the war was a release from all the boredom of the home front. It was a celebration as the British citizens could now show their patriotism for their country and faith. Both of Brooke’s poems seem like a form of propaganda. This is because even though they now know the feeling of the war Brooke’s words in his poems still encourage people to go to war, backing Horace’s quote. Even at the beginning of the war Brooke follows Horace’s quote strongly as he believes that it is still right that he dies for his country. So the previous attitude to the war is still strong even though they still have witnessed some of the horrors.
The Soldier shows a very positive attitude to the war. Rupert Brooke backs up Horace’s notion ‘dulce et decorum’ as in this poem it portrays his love for his country. He continuously repeats the word England throughout the poem that shows the only thing in his head when writing the poem was his love for England.
“ A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave once her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,”
This quote shows that England is personified as a female baring a child, which is the soldier to protect her. The poem is written as a Petrachan sonnet, a fourteen lined poem, which is usually used to write love poems. By using this format Brooke shows his love for the poem, England and the patriotic feelings for his country.
“ If I should die, think only this of me:
That there is some part of a foreign field
That is forever England.”
Brooke uses this poem to show his patriotism as he says here that if he may die in the war, then where his body died all the great English values will spread and his death will preserve the wonder of England. This shows he is also unsure that he will die, as he uses ‘if’ at the beginning of the poem.
The poem The Soldier is written in such a way that even though some of the horrors of the battlefield are written, it still shows the love of England and how it is still right to die for your country. Brooke changes some of the words like death to represent sleep and how it is calm and silent.
“ A pulse in the eternal mind, no less…
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day…
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven”
These quotes show how Brooke has represented death in a positive way as sleep and how when you die, you are at peace in heaven and will forever be commemorated. The pulse quoted shows how the beats of his heart will continue to pump all the nobility and jingoistic feelings out of him.
Peace also written by Brooke comments on the spiritual rewards through death on the battlefield. By going to war it is a release and that if you die you will go to heaven and forever be commemorated as a hero.
During World War I the most popular poet of the time was Wilfred Owen. Owen was the only poet out of the four poets I have discussed that disagreed with Horace’s notion ‘dulce et decorum’. Owen renamed Horace’s quote as the ‘old lie’; this is because he believed that it was out of date. The new weaponry and artillery of the World War I caused mass destruction and death. However in the Roman era the bravest and skilful soldier would win as they fought face-to-face with swords.
Owen was the only poet that had experienced the full horrors and fright of the war. Owen served on the front line in the trenches. He was less patriotic than the others behind him as he witnessed all the suffering and wondered if all the death was worth the patriotism.
Compared to Tennyson and Brooke who supported Horace’s quote, Owen disagreed and this is clearly shown in his two poems Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce Et Decorum Est. Owen is very honest with his words as they show his true feelings of the war. Tennyson and Brooke are discreet with their words and feelings but they still believe that going to war is patriotic and noble.
Anthem for Doomed Youth written during World War I is a poem comparing an elaborate ceremony of a Victorian style funeral to the death and suffering on the western front. It is written as a Shakespearean sonnet, which means the poem is about love or a love for something. In this case it seems as though the love shown in this poem is for the soldiers, a sort of tribute.
The Soldier written by Tennyson is also written in a sonnet. Both these poems are about death however they are in different contexts. Brooke’s poem is about the love for his country in the patriotic sense, this links to Horace’s notion ‘dulce et decorum’. Owens poem is for the love of the soldiers and commemorating their life.
The title of Owens poem Anthem of Doomed Youth is very significant. It is called an ‘anthem’ as the poem is for every soldier in the war, as a National anthem is for every person in a country. The words ‘doomed youth’ were ‘dead youth’ at first. Owen changed it to ‘doomed’ as it gave the feeling as though they were going to die or be injured, not dead at the time the poem was read. Owen seems to try and scare all those on the home front not to go to war as it is horrible and dangerous, however Tennyson and Brooke are trying to make those on the home front go to war, backing Horace’s notion ‘dulce et decorum’.
“ Passing-bells…
Monstrous anger of the guns…
Stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle…
Can patter out their hasty orisons…
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells…”
Owen compares the poem with a Victorian style funeral, as he believes each of the soldiers should get their own tribute. However as each cannot have their own funeral Owen uses the sounds of the battlefield as a substitute. The passing bells at the funeral are in the form of gunshots and the rifles rattling are the prayers said at the funeral. Owen also uses alliteration for the rattles as it gives the sound of the rattling guns. Instead of a choir service at the funeral, the dead soldiers get the wailing sound of the bombs. ‘Wailing shells’ is an onomatopoeia as wailing is like the sound the bombs actually made. Owen uses onomatopoeias and sound imagery to help us picture the battlefield.
“ No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,”
These lines are commemorating the dead saying they do not have the prayers, bells and they do not have the choirs and the soldiers only have the substitute of the sounds of the battlefield.
“ What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”
This opening line of the poem is a thought provoking, rhetorical question. It is saying, ‘Is there a tribute to those who are slaughtered in the war?’ I think this is directed to the home front, asking them if all this is worth it. He is disagreeing with Horace’s notion ‘dulce et decorum’, claming that it is not worth dying for your country in such a horrible and slaughtering manner. Unlike Tennyson and Brooke, Owen is very direct and truthful about the horrors of war.
Wilfred Owen also writes Dulce Et Decorum Est. In this essay this is the most prolific poem as it incorperates Horace's notion and how Owen renamed it the 'old lie'. In both of Owens poems he bases the words on imagery and sound effects. This helps the reader to imagine the horrors of war and the pain it causes.
The poem is divided into three sections each eight lines long with a rhyming scheme of ABABCDCD with an extra four lines at the bottom. The poems first stanza is mainly about the injured and dead soldiers walking back from the front line.
“ Bent double, like old beggars in sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,”
Owen uses similes and descriptive words to make the soldiers walking back from the front line seem like old, dirty beggars. This is very strong as the soldiers in war were in there twenties, so the descriptions show what the war has done to the soldiers.
“ Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling…
Like a man in fire or lime…
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.”
The second stanza creates much tension as it is about a gas attack in the trenches. The words used suggest that the soldiers are in hell with the fire and the alkali gas peeling the skin off the soldiers. The blunt imagery causes disgust and fear for those that read it. Owen seems as though he has directed this poem to those on the home front to make them realise the pains of war. Owen uses lots of words in the present participle like ‘drowning’, ‘choking’ and ‘fumbling’. This adds energy to the poem and it helps with the imagery. Owen uses alliteration to help add flow and pressure to the poem’s rhythm.
“ His hanging face, like devil’s sick of sin;
The blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,”
In the third stanza the imagery and sound is very frightening and direct. Owen writes and describes the horrors of the gas attack and how it affects the soldiers. These sickening images cause the reader much discomfort. When aimed at the home front it makes them realise the horrors of war and how Horace’s notion can be realised as the ‘old lie’. Compared to Tennyson and Brooke, Owen is very dramatic and truthful. Tennyson and Brooke are very discreet and they claim how great and noble war is backing ‘dulce et decorum’.
The poem is addressing the reader as ‘you’ in the last four lines, because the poem is towards Jessie Pope. The four extra lines at the bottom of the poem expresses his main point to Jessie Pope. It is a sort of summary, emphasising the main message to Jessie. She is a lady on the home front who encourages the children and young men to go into war and help. She believes in Horace’s notion ‘dulce et decorum’, she uses this and propaganda to persuade people to go into war. Owen does not like Jessie Pope’s actions, by pushing men into war.
“ The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
Owen ends the poem with his main message claiming Horace’s quote ‘dulce et decorum’ is out of date making it the ‘old lie’.
During the time from the Roman era to the end of World War I, the attitudes and perception of war has changed. Through the poetry examined it can be seen that attitudes towards war have moved from patriotic nobility to an inhuman suffering.
Horace, born in 65 B.C. was witness to the civil war between Caesar and Brutus to see who should succeed to power. He was much admired for his poetry and technical skills – his ability to fit just the right words into just the right rhythm. When Horace was around the attitude was jingoistic as the best soldier won the battle which was face-to-face. Horace’s quote, ‘dulce et decorum’ carried on throughout time up to Tennyson.
The attitude towards war did not change as Tennyson represented the view that war was a glorification of life. Tennyson, born in 1809 won many prizes for his poetry and was much admired by Queen Victoria. He backed up Horace’s notion. It was a chance to fight for your country and faith. Tennyson believed that soldiers should fight for their country and their nobility and nothing more.
Brooke, born in 1887 was very gifted and died during World War I. The same attitude towards war did not change drastically as Brooke represented the view that fighting for your country was also heroic and should be commemorated. In his poem Peace, he claims that by going to war you are releasing yourself and going to heaven. He believed in Horace’s quote ‘dulce et decorum’. Brooke believed his generation was lucky as they were able to go to war and prove their nobility.
Owen believed that war was not the glorious, noble act that the rest of his past poets believed. He thought war was horrific and tormenting. Owen believed that after death it was calm and peaceful, but the actions that led to death were disgusting and inhuman. He shows this in his poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, where he describes the death and horrors vividly. Owen’s attitude changed as man was becoming more progressive in making artillery and weapons. Instead of fighting battles with say spears and swords, Owen had observed war guns and bombs. So rather than a soldier dying fighting with his hands, Owen saw soldiers dying by being blown to pieces by bombs. So maybe, this is why Owen disagrees with Horace’s attitude to war.
