From the poem “Soldier” we see little change in the attitude to war at this time. The poet adds in subtle hints that war was not the picture that had been painted back at home and he pretty much knew he was going to die.
But the poet is very intent on defending his country and he speaks very highly of it. We see a large amount of nationalism as the word “England” is used repeatedly in the first stanza. This is because he is proud of his country and even though he knows he’s going die it was worth it because it was for England: “That is forever England”. Also he personifies England expressing how he cares for the country as if it were a woman. “Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day”. This quotation shows the love he feels for his country and that he misses it dearly and does not believe he will ever see it again.
The poem is still extremely patriotic even though he feels his death is a possibility. It won’t be for nothing, for where his body lies will become a “piece” of land for his beloved England. His belief is that in the action of dying for his country, he will gain peace in heaven: “in hearts at peace, under an English Heaven” which he sees as the purest form of Nationalism. To the writer the perfect heaven can only be associated with England the country he loves, and which he is prepared to die for. This is a truly romantic notion which comes from the same innocent patriotism that we see in the Tennyson poem. Its tone is one of serenity, created through the poetry: alliteration as in “foreign field”, “laughter, learnt”; assonance as in “shaped, made aware”; and euphemism: “corner of a foreign field” used instead of “battlefield” or “graveyard”.
Despite succumbing to death, if fate decides, there will be a kind of colonization of the “foreign field” as England – forever. This, he feels, will provide the spiritual redemption that is the justification for his death, and the death of his countrymen. At this point the Old Lie still holds.
In contrast to these previous feelings about war, Wilfred Owen portrayed it in a completely different way. However he didn’t always have such a biased opinion of war. At the beginning he too fell for the Old Lie – “Dolce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori”.
The poem “Dolce et Decorum Est” is a complete contradiction to the title. It means sweet and glorious but it expresses the real side of war, rather than “the old lie” fed to the soldiers as they prepare for war. The poem has an upsetting nature and uses very graphic imagery; “He plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning”. This descriptive use of onomatopoeia adjectives places disturbing images in the mind of the reader. “Gargling from froth-corrupted lungs”: the soldiers are choking and foaming at the mouth as they die: we can hear the sounds.
The reality of the poem tells it as it was, nothing patriotic but only “desperate glory”. The pace of the poem is quick and shows the desperation and the form of the poem – the three eight-line stanzas rhyming ABABCDCD – draws the reader into the horrific reality like a mini-thriller, everything is rushed, almost blurred, but still so clear in everlasting memory. “In all my dreams before my helpless sight”. These memories will haunt him forever, he will never forget.
Phrases “Like a devils sick of sin” assault the reader’s senses and are meant to disturb us out of our complacent attitude to the patriotic view of war. The only explanation for all this suffering, all the pain, can only be described as evil, which is why Owen uses the “Devil” imagery. Owen shows how painful and personal war is when he uses images like “Blood-shod”, “Men marched asleep” and “All went lame, all blind; Drunk with fatigue.” It’s nasty, it’s violent, it hurts. It’s not patriotic, it’s their worst nightmare.
The second stanza appears loud and panicky, you can imagine the men shouting” Gas! Gas!” with great urgency – “Quick, boys!” - as the gas shell explodes. In addition a clear description of colour is expressed as a simile “Thick green light, as clear as a green sea” The repetition of green emphasizes how green the light is. And the helplessness of the man “drowning” mirrors the helplessness of a country losing its youth to a futile war – a sentiment Owen returns to in “Anthem for Doomed Youth”
The poem ends with “Pro patria mori” meaning to die for the fatherland. It is clear that Owen’s belief was that this was a futile ideal and he uses the well-known Latin phrase in an ironic sense to further underline his point. This is because he knew that he, and countless others; “the innocent tongues” would indeed die fighting for the so called “Fatherland” and such patriotic notions had tricked them into fighting for nebulous glory. It is obvious that Owen hates war in its horrific inhumanity and whilst the poem gives an insight into the camaraderie and loyalty between soldiers he feels they are completely let down by the Generals and their stupid orders.
The poem “Futility” by Wilfred Owen has an obviously apparent meaning simply from the title. “Futility” means pointlessness, of no value, and this relates to his opinion of war. The first stanza starts of softly using words like “Gently” and “Whispering”. As he talks about a dead body strewn across the ground he compares the familiarity; “move him into the sun…. always it woke him, even in France” The sun which used to wake him every morning can no longer wake him from death. An inevitable death.
It’s sympathetic in tone “The kind old sun” familiar things, everyday peacetime things, that surely can withstand death?
But no. The second stanza is much more angry. Owen feels anguish about the pointlessness of the war. “To break earths sleep at all?” he is saying what’s the point in being born if you are going to die a pointless death anyway? This angry atmosphere is achieved through the words being very detached, sounding sharp and jumpy “full-nerved-still warm-too hard” this creates a feeling of disgust. But the fact is that Owen went back to fight in the war because he already knew the horrors, he was used to it and he didn’t want anybody else to suffer.
Despite its subject matter this is a beautiful poem. It again denies the validity of the Old Lie. And we see through its elegiac imagery Owen’s major theme shining through: pity. Owen said: “My poetry is about war, the pity of war. And the poetry is in the pity”. Like a lone Highland Piper, this poem is a lament showing the powerlessness of humanity in the face of inhumanity.
Through these poems it can be seen that the attitudes to war have moved on. From the heady patriotic fervour of glory and honour to seeing that there is truly, surely, no point in thousands dying for futile causes. Tennyson represented the view of a patriot who was honoured to fight for his country and believed glory would prevail. Rupert Brooke was prepared to continue this theme, whereas Owen represented the view of finding no point or meaning to war.
Although the people back home ignored the horrors of war, they wanted to believe that their men were heroes bringing glory and honour to the family name and the Nation. Owen felt that it was his duty, through his poetry and its graphic and accurate imagery of the awful conflict, to change hearts and eventually to change minds.
These poems will forever stay a record of changing attitudes to war which enforced different opinions. But they also act as a key-hole to give us a historical insight into life, and death, on the poppy-fields that became the wretched battle grounds of the “war to end all wars”.
