Then Owen then becomes sarcastic as he says "My friend" because he believes that it is the reader's fault for sending out the soldiers to suffer. "The old lie"- Innocent deaths
have been caused due to the ignorance of the suvillian.
"Disabled" is the second poem I am going to discuss. Owen writes about how a man has fought for his country and as a result he has become disabled, then he feels rejected by his country. The first line "waiting for dark" is a metaphor for death and shows the soldier as helpless. They are scared and cold as they stand in line "shivered" in "ghastly suits of grey". This highlights that they are lifeless and grey is a connotation of funerals or mourning as if they are waiting to die. Then the simile of "saddening like a hymn" is used which emphasises it is like a funeral. A picture of despair is created by the use of "Voices after play". This is similar to "Dulce et decorum est" as they both expose negative sides to war. The man is then separated and he is shown as an outcast through his disability. His life had been changed in a year; it is a comparison to what he used to be like in the past.
The second verse is a shift to the past. He talks about his life and when he went out dancing with women. This is a positive image shown. It’s used to contrast with the reality of the present. "Now he will never feel how slim girls waists were." It emphasises that the women are heartless and don’t except him now he is a victim of war. The use of one boy being described highlights the isolation and makes us feel sympathy for him. It is different to "Dulce et decorum est".
The third verse talks about the consequences of war. Owen uses this quote to indicate how helpless and young he was "For it was younger than his youth. It is only 1 year on but Owen says; "Now he is old." This is ironic but is used to say that he was forced to grow up and face the hard facts. He was young and growing up fast and was away from home as well so he had no advice from anyone. Owen uses this quote to stress his isolation. "Lost his colour far from here".
Owen suggests that the soldier is already dead because being disabled he will no longer be able to live a normal life, "His veins ran dry". The poem speeds up when Owen describes what actually happened. It emphasises how quickly his youth was taken away. "Hot race" this is used to pick up the pace. "A leap of purple spurted from his thigh". It is a graphic image given by Owen and also is used to keep the pace going. This image adds power to his physical repulsiveness. It indicates how quickly it all happened.
In the fourth verse he talks about his youth. He felt proud and victorious when "Blood smeared down his leg". It is ironic how he felt proud of bleeding in a football match because he wouldn’t have been so proud of getting shot. This shows us the contrast of what he used to be like and how things have changed because he is a victim of war. Pride through war was one thing Owen did not believe in. He chose to join to please his friends, after he had drunk a pint. "He thought he better join". He thought if he joined he would be desirable to women, this is very ironic in relation to the reality of what happened. He thought it would also please his girlfriend, "Aye to please the giddy jilts." They were desperate for recruits; "he didn’t have to beg," they did not think about the consequences. "Germans he scarcely thought of" he did not know what he was getting into. He was blinded by the pride of representing and fighting for his country. "No fears of fears came yet" show us how he was naïve. He even had to lie about his age to get in; this emphasises how young and susceptible he was. All he thought about was the pride, honour and to be carried back "With drums and cheers". He left as a hero and came back an outcast. This is similar to "Dulce et decorum est" as it conjures up feeling of regret and guilt. It is ironic that next when he comes home he is thanked by a "priest". The priest indicates that he is ready to die and preparing him to die. The word thanked is bitter and sarcastic.
In the last verse he says how he will spend time in institutes and "rules they consider wise" indicates he is stuck in the past, scared for life, living in rules. Owen then makes a direct attack on women. "Women's eyes passed from him to the strong men that were whole." This is as if to say he is not complete and also that woman only think about appearance. He is isolated "how cold and late is it", and he is waiting to die, he has nothing to live for anymore.
Both of Owens poems question the meaning of war by using isolated endings. He shows us the consequences of war and asks the people back at home or the reader, why should these soldiers be sent out to war and suffer for everyone else.
Now I am going to look at Isobel Thrilling's two poems. The first is "Children in wartime". It is written from a child's perspective and it is a child making sense of things. It is a collective voice of children together. The first line is powerful and has a bitter tone, "Sirens ripped open". Personification is used to enhance the complete contrast of the second line "the warm silk of sleep". This is a soft and innocent image. It emphasises how emotive and harsh the first line is. It also reflects how something innocent and pure is destroyed by something sinister.
"We ricocheted to the shelter." This indicates the panic they were in from a collective voice. They had a feeling of protection because they were "moated with streets" because moated conjures up feelings of safety. The next line is again a contrast; "Ran with darkness" the darkness is personified here. It also indicates that they were in never-ending fear and danger.
"People said it was a storm" this is a storybook image shown and would have been told to the children from parents, which is ironic because in the next line Thrilling uses the word "flak" which is a more technical word and maybe an older child would know this word. It is in relation to what is happening and showing that the child has been forced to grow up and use more technical language. Thrilling then relates the storm to the war and is making sense of what they have been told by their parents, "had not the right sound for rain". "Thunder left huge craters of silence." We can see this is something a child would say because we know it is not actually thunder and maybe the child does not understand what is happening. This also shows the depth of silence there was. "We knew this was no giant playing bowls" this line is as if to say don't treat us like children, it has a bitter tone. It is again a storybook image. It is what they would have been told by their parents and they have been forced to grow up and now have a better understanding.
In the last five lines Thrilling shows a child's dreams being shattered. The glass in the child's window has been shattered and with this their childhood has been smashed into pieces. It indicates that the child has been forced to grow up. The window is somewhere that the child used look and now she could see the reflection of the sky in the broken glass. At this point it would appear that the sky was “broken” to the child because he/she is still young and how things look from a child’s perspective, this is ironic because it is like a storybook image and resembles that the child is still young and weak.
The last poem that I am going to look at is "Evacuee". We can see straight away from the title that it is different to "Children in wartime" because it is singular, and isolation is reflected. This is also shown in the first line of the poem which is "A case stood tall in the hall". The hall resembles coldness and emptiness. "Outlining the weight of fear "This line is emphasising how scared the child is and also that they know she is going to be away for a long time. "Her doll felt cold, she knew it had always been dead" this is a significant line because it is the realisation of growing up and she is not playing games anymore. "She left it on the pillow, heir to the wall paper roses and woolly dog" From this line it shows us that she is leaving her childhood behind and it seems very final, she is making a new start. All the objects that Thrilling describes are from her childhood memories and she is leaving them together to suggest she has left her doll in a secure place and comforted. For example the doll and the wallpaper are the things the child has had when she was young and memories from the past that have comforted her.
"Shadows clung to her clothes at the door." This line shows that she does not want to leave her past behind, it is similar to "Children in wartime" because they are both being forced to grow up, she is at the boundary between childhood and growing up. "Light struck bone." She is now exposed to the world and it indicates that she is a small petit girl because the light goes straight to her bones. We feel sympathy for her here. It is the realisation of reality and it has struck her. "She walked unshaded" This shows that she has no longer got her past security and shows uncertainty. She has moved on alone. She then walks down streets and "Climbed a train watched the receding lamps of platform faces." The fact that she climbed a train emphasises that she is small and very exposed. This is the realisation of moving further and further away from her past.
The last verse starts with '"The lady was kind" It indicates that she didn't expect the lady to be nice and she didn't know what she was moving into to. The imagery in this poem highlights the atmosphere and situations, which are very different. "Wove stories with tinsel and thread" this gives us a very pleasant image comforting and a Christmas image. However it also highlights how delicate that their relationship was. "But the texture of her voice was strange" this is a change of tone used by Thrilling. It indicates that the she does not really know the lady and doesn't know her voice. "Her mouth seemed painted on wax, her smile ran red". This is similar to the doll. But it also highlights the fakeness of the lady and that she isn't her real mother. The smile is not comforting and is a warning sign. Red is also a connotation of danger. This is similar to "Children in wartime" because it shows that the child has lost her protection and is bitter about growing up.
I am going to look at the similarities and differences in Owen and Thrilling. Both poets expose the negative side to war, for example Owen uses the consequences of a man becoming disabled because of war and Thrilling does so by showing a child's shattered dreams through war. Both poets also expose fear, children in isolation for example a large suitcase standing alone in the hall and the fear of fighting, "haunting flares". The poets have a bitter tone about war. Thrilling has a bitter tone because children have been lied to and hidden form the truth, they have also been forced to grow up. With Owen, he is bitter because men "have" to fight for ones country and men "have" to face consequences. "Dulce et decorum est" the old lie. He is sick of the lies and wants the people to know the truth. He shows a bitterness towards women "Touching like a queer disease" he is angry because a man has been rejected when he has put his life on the line for his country but is shown no gratitude from the women. They both expose the reality of war in there poems. Isolation is used by thrilling to highlight this in "evacuee". Owen uses death, "waiting for dark". He also shows the fear of men on the battlefield, the regret and consequences of what happened. He also portrays the disillusionment of the soldiers by war. And that they are let down because it is completely different this is show in "Disabled".
Imagery is used by both pets. Glory and pride blind them. Not once is a glorified image used by either poet. The fact is reality is negative. "Sirens ripped open". Both the poets question the meaning of war. Owen destroys the glorified image portrayed by the people, where as Thrilling destroys the innocence of youth, "Sirens ripped open the warm silk of sleep."
The difference between the poets is obviously their sex. This affects their style of writing and their perspectives. Owen uses harsh images "Gargling form the froth corrupted lungs." And attacks women directly. However Thrilling protects women and evokes sympathy. "She walked unshaded". The poets were also at a different stage in life when they wrote the poems. This affects their perspective of the war because a child in Thrillings poems is trying to make sense of what they are being told by adults but the adults In Owens poems are in the thick of the action and have to take what comes at them. The poets are also in different settings because of their age and sex. Owen who is in the battlefield makes his images more harsh and real, "a leap of purple spurted from his thigh." He was there to see what was happening and his imagery is therefore more vivid. Thrillings imagery is more subtle and detailed. She can show more emotion for the suffering of the people back at home. "Dulce et decorum est" has an angry bitter tone and attracts the reader, this makes it similar to "Children in wartime". They're also similar because "Dulce et decorum est" talks about a group of soldiers and "Children in wartime" is a children's collective voice. "Disabled" and "Evacuee" are similar because they are subtle and detailed. They are also about isolation and reflect the lives of individuals.
From my point of view You can not possibly say that one poet is more effective than the other. However their contrasting styles affect the reader in different ways. Owen with far more vivid poetry, and much more hostility towards women and the reader. But Thrilling with a much more emotional and sympathetic style. I think that Owen attacks the reader and questions the meaning of war directly, but Thrilling evokes sympathy for the innocence of children. Thrilling also questions he meaning of war but it is much more subtle.
