Explore the portrayal of war in the poetry of Wilfred Owen and William Shakespeare.
Explore the portrayal of war in the poetry of Wilfred Owen and William Shakespeare.
There are many different types of war poetry and we have studied two very contrasting poems. "Before Agincourt" by William Shakespeare and "Dulce et Decorum est" by Wilfred Owen. "Before Agincourt" was written in the 16th century as a morale boosting speech to be spoken by Henry V before the Battle of Agincourt because his army was harshly outnumbered. Shakespeare wrote this speech by guessing at words possibly spoken by Henry V himself. "Dulce et Decorum est" was written in the 20th century by Wilfred Owen as a response to his traumatic experiences in the war. In this poem he attempts to portray the reality of war by indirectly exposing the truth behind the words of glorified war poetry. Both poems were written at a time when war was glorified, however whilst Shakespeare's was referring to this glory, Owens's was about the horror.
Written at the time of the First World War, Owen describes what he saw and how it affected him. In an attempt to shock, his thorough use of punctuation makes the reader take in and dwell upon all the shocking information that they are being given. "All went lame, all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of tired, outstripped five-nines that dropped behind." By writing in short phrases, the poem is broken up so that the different sections of information stand out against each other.
The use of stanzas and a definitive rhyme scheme help to emphasise Owens points of view and convey his message. The most effective stanza in my opinion is the third one that has just one phrase "In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." This is so effective because it is an isolated phrase that demands attention and extra thought from the reader. The rhyme scheme is important to keep the poem in the readers' head once they've finished reading it. Also, it helps to keep a steady pace throughout the ...
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The use of stanzas and a definitive rhyme scheme help to emphasise Owens points of view and convey his message. The most effective stanza in my opinion is the third one that has just one phrase "In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." This is so effective because it is an isolated phrase that demands attention and extra thought from the reader. The rhyme scheme is important to keep the poem in the readers' head once they've finished reading it. Also, it helps to keep a steady pace throughout the stanzas through to the end.
Many metaphors and similes are used to add dramatic effect and thought-provoking imagery to the poem. For example "drunk with fatigue" which shows that the soldiers are filled up with tiredness as though with drink, and it is causing them to act as though they are drunk.
As a reader of this poem, the similes used really stood out to me and kept a strong image in my head of what Owen encountered during the war. I feel that the most powerful source of imagery used is "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin" because to me it is the most obscure type of image to visualise.
His brutal use of the English language is very appropriate as he is speaking about the brutal reality of war. Such as: "If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him" - the use of the word "you" involves the reader in Owens' personal experience and invites them to explore their unconscious emotions of how they interpret war.
Towards the end of the poem, Owen calls upon fellow men and pleads with them to refrain from using the term "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" which means that it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country. He is so desperate to stop people telling children this lie as I am sure the soldiers who lay dying certainly were not thinking to themselves how honourable it was to be in such suffering. However, other poems hold very different opinions to that of Wilfred Owens.
"Before Agincourt" is inviting the listener to believe that it is an honour to die for ones country and those who disagree with that are not worthy. He needed his listeners to believe this so that they would be motivated to stay and fight even though they were harshly outnumbered 6,000 to 25,000 men. There is a never-changing feel of optimism throughout and the use of blank verse enables the speaker (in this case Henry V) to punctuate and pause etc whenever he feels it necessary.) To do this, he used a number of techniques - the most obvious being emotive language. He used certain key words a number of times i.e. Honour. In the era that this speech was written, people were "covetous" for "honour" which is why Shakespeare has chosen to emphasise that.
He also expressed the prospect of unity. He promised that the joint effort of the men would bond them altogether as brothers, "he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother". This would have impressed the men to a great extent because the prospect of being thought of as closely as a brother by a King was one they all desired. Also, he promised them that they would be honoured and respected highly for participating in this battle. And every year on Saint Crispins day, the men that were too cowardly to fight shall "think themselves accurs'd they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispins day."
He even goes as far as to promise them the memory of a life time and that while in years to come, when other old men are losing their memories - the men who fought in this battle will not be one of them, as they shall never forget this day. "Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day." Also, the proposal of immortality is on offer to them, "from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered." Also, he reminds them that to fight in this battle will give them something to share with their children - "this story shall the good man teach his son" and in my opinion this is one of his best techniques. I think this because what every man wants more than anything is the respect of his children, and through fighting in this battle, they shall definitely receive it in the future.
Even unpopular men have the promise of all this honour, and Shakespeare even points this out to them "be he ne'er so vile this day shall gentle his condition." This basically means that no matter how unpopular you were before you came to battle - when you return you shall be the most popular man in the town.
To try and communicate with the listeners on a personal level, he calls upon each of them by name "Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester." The effect of doing so is that the listeners feel involved in what he is saying and united the country. Finally, the speech is very well written in that it flows splendidly and each section is linked to the last, so that the listener does not get confused or overwhelmed.
The ethos of the times when both these poems were written suggests that propaganda was the main driving force behind the men, and it is clearly a time when war is glorified.
In conclusion, I felt that both the poems were extremely powerful and persuasive. When reading Wilfred Owens poem I was utterly convinced that all aspects of war were horrifying and unethical but then as soon as I read William Shakespeare's speech I was completely taken in by his persuasive writing. In my opinion, they both held such different qualities it would be impossible to determine which one I preferred.