How far does Wilfred Owen's poetry convey the realities of war? Discuss three or four poems you have studied.

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Coursework Essay

How far does Wilfred Owen’s poetry convey the realities of war? Discuss three or four poems you have studied.

Wilfred Owen

        Wilfred Owen was born in 1893 and he joined the army in 1915. He was invalided because of shell shock and was sent to a hospital in Edinburgh. It was in this hospital that Owen met Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon helped Owen with his poems. Although Owen only published five poems in his lifetime he is very much remembered for his bleak sense of realism, his anger and his realistic portrayal of the war.

For my essay I have chosen to write about three of Wilfred Owen’s poems. They are ‘Dulce et Decorum est’, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and ‘Exposure’.  

‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is about some young soldiers who are at war. They are marching but are so tired it is difficult for them to carry on. But they must as their lives depend on it. Suddenly there is a gas attack and through their tiredness a soldier shouts in panic because he cannot get his gas mask on and dies before their eyes. They place the dead body onto their wagon. Still the soldiers carry on.

In the first line of the poem:

‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’, the soldiers are compared to beggars. This is to create the image of the soldiers gaunt and starving and in need of help. The pace of the first stanza is slow and Wilfred Owen uses a caesura, which is a pause to reflect the slowness of the soldiers walking. The words ‘sludge’, ‘trudge’ and ‘fatigue’ also simulate a very slow pace.

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‘Bent double, like old beggars’ and ‘limped on’ all translate as a slow weary pace.

When a soldier shouts ‘gas’ adrenaline takes over and the soldiers hurry for their gas masks to save themselves from the attack. The pace of the poem quickens as the panic sets in. The word ‘fumbling’ implies the helmets are heavy and clumsy to put on. One man’s death is described with very powerful, desperate words:

‘He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.’ Wilred Owen also uses the metaphor:

‘As under green sea, I saw him drowning’. This helps create an image of what ...

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