Now a day we understand how the war was inglorious, how the troops were in bad conditions, trenches were filled with dirty water, sewage, rats and diseases, this was why troops were ill most of the time, as they had to walk threw this sickening path. Shellshock was the major factors in destroying morale. Gas attacks happened often a troop dyeing in the slowest possible way; it was like a painful death mustard gas effects, didn’t not become apparent for 12 hours. Usually skin blistered, eyes became painful. They troops just wanted to be shot dead after the affect of mustard gas, death took up to 4weeks or 5 weeks.
The war began in 1914 this is when everyone joined, they didn’t know anything about the war, they just read the story that Jessie pope wrote, this made the troops join. During the war Europe was divided into great alliances-Great Britain, France and Russia (entente cordiale) and Germany Australia Hungary and Italy (triple alliance). Everyone wanted to join the war children from young age, they gave the wrong age to ensure they were able to go and defend their country. Russia had the largest army, they had over 1 million men to be exacted they had about 1.3 million men, but took the longest to mobilize 3-4 weeks. They mainly fought in northern France, the western front while the triple alliance fought in the eastern front. “On average 5600 men were killed per day”. “Major battles could produce deaths up to 200,000 in only one or two days”. This was the main reason why they didn’t care about age as they needed more troops because of the troop deaths.
Wilfred own is speaking because he was a troop a veteran in the war; He was an officer who had fought in the major battles of western front from 1914 to 1917. He saw what happened in the war how weak they became each day, how people died from gas or “mustard gas”.
The intended audience is amide at people who want to join the war, who wanted to fight for their country. People were persuaded to join by family and friends because family and friends were going into the war that persuaded other family and friends to join.
The soldiers in the first stanza are described how they were in the war, “bent double, like old beggars under sacks”. This simile shows how weak they have now become before they went into the war. “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed thought sludge, till on the haunting flares we turned our backs”. This shows they have had enough and now can’t take no more and want to go back home, this maybe because they didn’t have much training. Onomatopoeia reflects what’s happening to the men’s. “But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of tired outstripped five-nines that dropped behind.” This shows that the men were soldiering on each step they took was covered in blood, deadened senses they could hear anything it was like there senses were all gone.
They men are in awful conditions; trenches were filled with dirty water, sewage, rats and all different kinds of diseases.
Soldiers only saw between 5 to 10 days of combat in a year, there were lice’s in the trenches soldiers stepping on them, shell shock were the major factors in destroying morale. Shell shock means madness.
Their heads were going crazy, they just got scared wanted to leave go home and never return.
The second stanza makes the poem go quicker because at the start it says “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!” this shows that you will have to read the poem fast; it makes an exciting stanza because of this. Also in the second stanza it describe solider being hurt this also maybe why how Owen achieves the effect of making the reader read fast. There are lots of short sentences and comers in the second stanza; this makes the reader imagine how they are in war.
Owen describes the man’s death by saying that everyone had there helmets on just in time but a troop didn’t, he had to watch him die in a slowly painful death saw him drowning in the sea. The man was floundering in fire or lime this would have been burning acid.
“But someone was still yelling out and stumbling and floundering like a man in fire or lime”. Owen saw threw his gas mask what was happening to him, Owen wanted to help him as he plunged at him guttering, choking, and drowning. (The rule of 3 “ing”). They treated him like rubbish just throwing him away.
The effect that Owen had on the experience was like a dream because he says “in ally my dreams”, he felt like the dream he had he never woke up from it until the last moment when he was in the hospital. Owen wrote this poem for the readers to understand the horror of war and show that the war isn’t a friendly game; he wanted the readers to see what really happens in war and see the truth rather than the lies. He shows the true horror of the war, unlike Jessie pope. My ‘friend’ Owen uses this word to direct the ‘friend’ as the reader who is reading the poem, he says he tells me poem with such high zest, zest means really happy, he dose this because he’s happy to tell the truth to the reader. The ‘old lie’ is Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, this means fitting to die for your country, he’s trying to say would you really die for your country? In the horror he went through would you go through this for your country?. Also he trying to say once you’re in the war there is no chance of survival. The quote is from a roman poet called harries. The last line is so important because he is being sarcastic because the war is not really fitting to die for your country, as he was a English teacher before he went into the war, he knew his grammar so people reading this would notices he knew how to write a poem that made scene unlike some people that survived the war.
I think the poem makes a good title because it is like a question just like most of the poem he’s asking a question to the reader.
The ideas and feeling about this poem is get is that he uses two Sonics’ I find this interesting than one as it makes the poem more interesting to read. The feeling I get from the poem are how he show how the war was really like, how he explains the solider that was drowning. How other troops were limping and dyeing in a slow painful death, how weak they become after war, this made be think how they would have been in the war how hard it was for them. He try’s to put a point through to the reader to show how awful war was.
The words and phrases that brings the reality and horrors of the wars are “coughing like hags” this is like the troops were coughing some may have been coughing up blood because they were getting ill by the day. “All went lame; all blind” this show that the troops were tired couldn’t fight no more needed a long rest to recover; they were blinded as they couldn’t see over foggy days and how far away the danger was from hitting them. “Fire or lime” this is described as burning gas, how they had to put there gas mask on from time to time to escape the gas. “Guttering, choking, drowning” this show the solider who was dyeing and also other troops may have been guttering, choking and drowning every minute, hour, day etc.
I have learned from the war poetry this that how war was really like, how it wasn’t a game. Also how many troops died for the country how propaganda persuades people to join. Young children lied about there age just to get into the war. Other poems didn’t explain the true horrors of war just explained how fun it would be to be in the war they didn’t mention any points about how it would really be like just words of lies just to persuade people to join. My favourite poem is by Wilfred Owen this is because he has experienced the war as he was in World War 1; he has seen the horror of the war unlike Jessie pope. He explains the true horror and death of the war. It is important because if people don’t write about the poem then know one would know what really happen in the war.
