“ In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.”
In addition he shows anger and dismisses the saying,
“Dolce Et Decorum Est,” “The old lie,” as he mentioned. This meant fighting for glory and love of ones’ country. This explains his personal feelings towards war in this poem. In addition he is disgusted with the lies innocent people are filled with and put in a position to suffer.
If we look at Exposure the poet shows us how the soldiers feel about the war and their experience. He gives us a picture of the battlefield and who their enemy was. This is clearly shown in the beginning of the poem where the poet explains the harshness of the wind, the worries that the soldiers were filled with due to the noiseless state of the night and the fact that they didn’t know what was going to happen. The worries of the soldiers is emphasized by the language used, “ Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous.” The sound stresses on worries of the soldiers. As described by the poet, soldiers felt that the war was like a rumour and this made them question their reason for being out there in the battlefield. The fact that nothing was happening made the soldiers be unsure of their reason to being there.
In the third verse the poet describes the soldiers feelings and the effects of the sunrise. He explains the painful memories that was brought to the soldiers as the sun rose
In the spring offensive Owen tells us about the attack, he gives us the picture of the boundary line. This was the last chance of the soldiers to retreat, “ The shade of the last hill,” as explained by the poet. Although some soldiers seemed not caring about the battle as they made themselves comfortable as described. This is emphasized if we look at the language used by the poet,” Carelessly slept.’ This shows how unaware the soldiers were of their fate, therefore seemed relaxed. While many were tense, and filled with fear of loosing their lives.
The poet gives us a picture of the environment and how beautiful the season and the effects it had on the soldiers. He tells us about how quiet and calming the environment was but this didn’t put away the fear of the terror the soldiers were about to face. The fear is clearly shown by the poets language as he explained, “Sharp on their souls hung the imminent line of grass.” He describes the fear of the definite attack the soldiers couldn’t stop thinking about. This is a contrast to Exposure if we look at the fact that the soldiers were worried in the state of nothing happening.
The soldiers flashed back thinking of the colourful fields, the buttercups and the brambles. If we look at this we can see that the poet has used these as a simile to stress the point that war wasn’t a good idea. In addition to show how even the earth wouldn’t give in to the idea. This is seen if we look at the phrase, “But clutched and clung to them like sorrowing hands.” This is a contrast to Exposure if look at the way the weather was harsh to the soldiers, unlike in Spring offensive where the earth shows to care for the soldiers as explained.
Without even raising the alarm for attack, the battle began with only a blink of the eye. This time the poet tells us about The Sun and describes how friendly this was to them as it shone on them. Where without even realising the soldiers got to the top of the hill where they were exposed to line of fire. Owen explains how the skies was against the soldiers and that it turned instantly while the earth set mines, “cups,” as described, to hold the soldiers blood. The slope turned to a big ditch which had no end, this gives a clear of picture of the destruction made. However he explains how the soldiers suffered trying to take cover from bullets and blast where some lost their lives when they were fighting against flames. He explains how ashamed the ones who crawled back felt as were not proud of their action. They felt inferior and confused of what to say about the war.
Owen shows different moods in his poems. In Dolce Et Decorum Est he showed anger towards the liers who make soldiers fight for their peace. It was through his experience, where he saw soldiers suffering and dying painful deaths that he showed sympathy.
In Exposure, he seemed confused on the idea of war. He showed this by the way he pointed the unnecessary suffering of soldiers out in the battlefield. He described how the soldiers suffered in the harsh weather where some lost their lives and not because of war. This made him question the purpose of war.
In Spring Offensive he showed the fear of the attack. This is described by their attitude towards the war. This was a contrast to Exposure, as he seemed more aware of the dangers that faced them. He showed more understanding of the war and what he could expect.
