Dulce Et Decorum Est & Exposure analysis
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Introduction
Through close examination of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" and "Exposure", explain how Wilfred Owen used poetic techniques and language to portrait the Front Line. Introduction: Through the two anti-war poems, "Dulce Et Decorum Est" and "Exposure", Wilfred Owen depicted a terrible picture, which describes the horrid living condition at the Front Line, by using a lot of poetic techniques. These two poems vary from the propaganda poems in terms of describing what war is really like. They do not describe war as being fun and exciting, but as being boring and dreadful instead. In this essay, I will talk about some poetic techniques and language that Owen used to describe life in the Front Line and the effects that they have on the readers. 1st poetic technique in "Exposure": In the poem "Exposure", Wilfred Owen has used personification to describe the cold wind through the line: "Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east wind that knifes us..." This suggests that besides the Huns, the British soldiers also had to cope with nature. The winds, which make leaves rustle, could make them confused because they did not know whether the sounds came from the enemy approaching or it was really the wind. ...read more.
Middle
"For hours the innocent mice rejoice: the house is theirs; Shutters and doors all closed: on us the doors are closed - We turn back to our dying." However, the life for soldiers at the Front Line was so terrible that the condition of a small, smelly creature - mouse - was even better than the soldiers'. At night, the war stops and the mice can sleep happily. However, the soldiers cannot even sleep a second in happiness; they always had to ready for the fight as they cannot know when the fight will happen. The sentries had to swap times with each others and guard the trenches, so they always had to live in a condition of fear, nervous and terror. 4th poetic technique in "Exposure": Wilfred Owen uses repetition to show that the soldiers rather wanted to die and the war than sit still in worry about the sudden attack of the enemies. The line in the poem that shows this is: "But nothing happens" When we read other propaganda poems, they all say that the soldiers come to the Front Line to fight; therefore, we will be surprised when Owen said that nothing happens. "Nothing happens" in this poem is not saying that the war is over, but the war is happening and the silence can break anytime. ...read more.
Conclusion
The tired marching of the soldiers was interrupted by the horror of the mustard gas. Everything became a chaos and everyone was trying to do anything to save their life. ECSTASY OF SUMBLING 4th poetic technique in "Dulce Et Decorum Est": Wilfred Owen uses Latin words in the last two lines of the poem, because he knows that only the rich and powerful people know or learn about Latin. Therefore, he wants them to use their power to pressure the governments to stop the war. The two lines that show this are: "The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patris mori." Latin is a very old-fashiond language and Owen also emphasises this by say the term "The old Lie" to general say that all the wars are not necessary, they should be forgotten and all the wars are lie. The word "The" shows that the lie has been there for very long time, but everyone just ignores it. The meaning in English of these Latin lines is: "The old Lie: Sweet and right are To die for your country." Owen wants the entire propaganda poem's authors to think about what they wrote, is it true that it will be sweet and right to die for your country or is it wrong just for encouraging men to join the Front Line. ...read more.
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