Wifred Owen

The first 200 words of this essay...

This poem was written by Wifred Owen, who was a soldier in the First World War. He therefore gives a very vivd account of what it was like to be there, as he has had first- hand experience. The title of the poem means 'it is sweet and hounourable',,,and the phrase is continued at the end of the poem...'to die for your country.' Just before this is stated at the end of the poem, Wilfred Owen chooses to write'The Old Lie.' This tells us he does not believe this statement to be true. Calling the poem by this name is very ironic, as the poem is filled with horrible stories about what really happened, and so Wilfred Owen is saying how can all of this suffering be sweet and proper?

The irony begins in the first line, where the soldiers are compared in a similie to old beggars. This implies that they look shabby, which is not the image of soldiers in bright shiny uniforms which would be in keeping with the glorious image of war. The line has a slow pace with no sound described, which is also a contarst to the image of war, as people at home