To show how attitudes to the war changed as the Great War progressed I have chosen four poems. "The soldier" by Rupert Brooke, "In Flanders Field" by John McCare and " Disabled" and "Dulce Et Decorum Est." both by Wilfred Owen.

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English Coursework.

Poetry Unit

War Poems

 

To show how attitudes to the war changed as the Great War progressed I have chosen four poems. “The soldier” by Rupert Brooke, “In Flanders Field” by John McCare and “ Disabled” and “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” both by Wilfred Owen.

  Both John McCare and Rupert Brookes poems were written early on in the war, however Rupert Brooke has glorified war unlike John McCare who saw war as a job that needed to be done. Wilfred Owen’s poems were written later on in the war and both talk about the reality of war. He mentions gas attacks, death and horrific injuries.

 

When comparing the poet’s attitude to war, Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” has a totally different perspective to that of Rupert Brooke’s poem, “The soldier.” “Dulce Et Decorum Est” tell us what it really was like for the soldiers,

  “Men marched asleep. Many have lost their boots

   But limped on, blood shod.”

 

Compare that abstract with one from The Soldier,

“Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day”

It clearly highlights that Owen had a clear view on what war was about; perhaps this is because he had experience of life as a soldier and that his attitude was one of bitterness.  If you compare this with another of his poems “Disabled” he still captured the awfulness of war ruining young men’s lives, but the language he uses appears less bitter possibly because it is about one young soldier. The Poem “Disabled” talks about how horrific injuries due to the war affected the soldiers in many ways. “In Flanders Field” John McCare also writes with some truth,

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 “We are the dead,”

 he writes indicating it is possible for you to die in war, but he also uses recruiting language.

 “To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high.”

This shows that John McCare attitude is neither bitter nor triumphant it is balanced.

        As mentioned before, both of Owens’s poems tell the reality of war. The “ Dulce Et Decorum Est” is about the soldier making their way back after fighting, when a gas attack occurred leaving one man for dead. His other poem “Disabled” is about ...

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