Poetry written about war has the ability to capture something of its horror and waste. Do you find this to be true from the reading of the poems you have studied?
Poetry written about war has the ability to capture something of its horror and waste. Do you find this to be true from the reading of the poems you have studied?
For my coursework I was asked to study three poems and anaylise them on how they bring out the horror and waste of war. I have choosen "Dulce Et Decorum Est" By Wilfred Owen, "The Drum" by John scott and "The charge of the light brigade" by Lord Tennvson. Alll three poems I throughly enjoyed anaylising and reading. All the poems were anti-war and clearly showed the devasting effects of war on the soliders. It made me feel sorry for what the soliders had to go through and how much they suffered. I thought "Dulce Et Decorum Est" By Wilfred Owen brought this out espically well. All three poems painted psychological images that would disturb the mind and make the reader realise what the war was really like.
Wilfred Owen died at the age of 25 and was killed seven days before the end of World War 1. He is regarded as one of the most well-known war poets of the 20th Century, having written an astonishing 110 poems. Under the influence of Romantic, early 19th Century poets such as Wordsworth, Keats and Shelley, Owen produced ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est which revealed the truth behind war, the grief and suffering caused. Wilfred Owen wanted to dismiss the idea of romance as a motivation to fight in the war; young men believed that fighting in the war would make them heroes and that girls would be passionate about them. Of course many men didn’t have an option in the matter: wives and girlfriends chose not to stay with their man if they didn’t fight in the war, so men were forced to join up. The fact that their partner wouldn’t stick by them was one reason but if they didn’t join the whole society would look down on them with disgrace: they weren’t men if they didn’t fight for their country. The poem is one of the most powerful ways to convey an idea or opinion. Through vivid imagery and compelling metaphors, the poem gives the reader the exact feeling the author wanted. The poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," an anti-war poem by Wilfred Owen, makes great use of these devices. This poem is very effective because of its excellent control of the mechanical and emotional parts of poetry. Owen's use of exact diction and vivid figurative language emphasizes his ,showing that war is terrible and devastating. Furthermore, the use of extremely graphic imagery adds even more to his argument. Through the effective use of all three of these tools, this poem conveys a strong meaning and persuasive argument. The poem's use of excellent diction helps to more clearly define what the author is saying. Words like "guttering", "choking", and "drowning" not only show how the man is suffering, but that he is in terrible pain that no human being should endure. Other words like writhing and froth-corrupted say precisely how the man is being tormented. Moreover, the phrase "blood shod" shows how the troops have been on their feet for days, never resting. Also, the fact that the gassed man was "flung" into the wagon reveals the urgency and occupation with fighting. The only thing they can do is toss him into a wagon. The fact one word can add to the meaning so much shows how the diction of this poem adds greatly to its effectiveness. Likewise, the use of figurative language in this poem also helps to emphasize the points that are being made. Owen uses strong metaphors and similes. Right off in the first line, he describes the troops as being "like old beggars under sacks." This not only says that they are tired, but that they are so tired they have been brought down to the level of beggars who have not slept in a bed for weeks on end. Owen also compares the victim's face to the devil, seeming corrupted and baneful. A metaphor even more effective is one that compares "...vile, incurable sores..." with the memories of the troops. It not only tells the reader how the troops will never forget the experience, but also how they are frightening tales, ones that will the troops will never be able to tell without remembering the extremely painful experience. These comparisons illustrate the point so vividly that they increase the effectiveness of the poem.The most important means of developing the effectiveness of the poem is the graphic imagery. They evoke such emotions so as to cause people to become sick. The images can draw such pictures that no other poetic means can, such as in line twenty-two: "Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs." This can be disturbing to think about. It shows troops being brutally slaughtered very vividly, evoking images in the reader's mind. In the beginning of the poem the troops were portrayed as "drunk with fatigue." With this you can almost imagine large numbers of people dragging their boots through the mud, tripping over their own shadow. Later in the poem when the gas was dropped, it painted a psychological image that would disturb the mind. The troops were torn out of their nightmarish walk and surrounded by gas bombs. How everyone, in "an ecstasy of fumbling" was forced to run out into the mist, unaware of their fate. Anyone wanting to fight in a war would become nervous at the image of himself running out into a blood bath. The graphic images displayed here are profoundly affecting and can never be forgotten.The poem ties it all together in the last few lines.In Latin, the phrase "Dulce et decorum est pro partria mori" means: "It is sweet and becoming to die for one's country." Owen calls this a lie by using good diction, vivid comparisons, and graphic images to have the reader feel disgusted at what war is capable of. This poem is extremely effective as an anti-war poem, making war seem absolutely horrid and a waste, just as the author wanted it to.
