"The First World War marked an important turning point in literary history: in the poem of Wilfred Owen, war is described for the first time in all its horror." Do you agree with this judgement?

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A. Colin- Jones                English Coursework

“The First World War marked an important turning point in literary history: in the poem of Wilfred Owen, war is described for the first time in all its horror.” Do you agree with this judgement?

The bells were ringing on November 11, 1918 in Shrewsbury to celebrate the Armistice when the doorbell rang at Wilfred Owen’s parents’ home, bringing them the telegram telling them their son was dead. It is this tragic circumstance that lends an especially ironic, bitter edge to the man's work. Wilfred Owen enlisted and served as an officer in the British army during World War I, but he was injured in March 1917 and sent home; he was fit for duty again in August, 1918, and returned to the front. On November 4, just seven days before the Armistice, he was caught in a German machine gun attack and killed. He was twenty-five when he died.

Until the 1914-1918 conflict, war had always been a way of proving manhood, and Jessie Pope was drawn into the false view of war being a hunt for glory in ‘The Call’:

“Who Longs to charge and shoot- /Do you, my laddie? /Who’s Keen on getting fit-/Who means to show his grit”

The First World War affected millions of people and undoubtedly the course of history itself. Literature too was dramatically changed by war, un a way that was drastic and undeniable; that is debatable but the change has been drastic and undeniable. The passion for writing about God, beauty, romance and love was replaced by bereavement, bog and blood but still with the same passion. Throughout history there have been turning points and style changes. But perhaps the biggest change in poetry and in fact literature itself lies in the blood of 30 million men, women and children. In July 1914 Owen wrote his first poem, in the romantic vein of Rupert Brooke. With the outbreak of war the world’s outlook on life was never the same. In war poetry, the glory of Chaucer’s Knight would cease to exist and something new would be born. In Chaucer’s time war was glorified and considered honourable. Men were both keen and anxious to go to war to prove themselves to their peers. In ‘Chaucer’s Knight’ he clearly illustrates what a fighting man was and stood for in his day:

“He loved chivalrye, / Troutle and honour, fredom and curtesye…. He was a verray, parfit, gentil knight”.  

These words almost make war seem pleasant. The survivors of wars were heroes, they had defeated the enemy and fought valiantly. Henry V says that the survivors of Agincourt will remember the battle proudly: “He will strip his sleeve and show his scars... All shall be forgot”. This is a perfect depiction of ideas during this time. Everyone was proud to fight in a war: it created men from boys, and war wasn’t horrible, it was essentially honourable. Warfare was conducted in a way that meant that a man could be judged through his battlefield exploits. By Owen’s time this was a near impossible perception to grasp let alone understand. Half naked barbarians were no longer the greatest enemy and noble knights on their steeds were no more the most deadly weapon. Machine guns, tanks, gas attacks, bombs, mines, and shells advanced war into a ghastly mass murder of millions. Those who survived the war could be cowards, for often it was thought that they had hidden in the trenches or faked injuries to escape the bloody arena of the Western Front. This was true for some, but for others it was certainly not. But warfare was no longer conducted in way where a man could be judged by his death or survival.

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Earlier poets recognised the violence of war but saw it as an honourable struggle: death was a worthy sacrifice. Shakespeare says:

“Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more/Or close up the wall with our English dead”, showing that there was a purpose even in death.

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" recalls a disastrous historical military engagement that took place during the Crimean War. Under the command of Lord Raglan, British forces entered the war in September 1854 to prevent the Russians from obtaining control of the important sea routes through the Dardanelles. From the beginning, the war ...

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