How Does Wilfred Owen Convey the Horrors of War In Poetry

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DHAMIRAKANTH YOGANATHAN                

       

HOW DOES WILFRED OWEN CONVEY THE HORRORS OF WAR IN POETRY ?

Many of Owen’s poems direct anger towards the generals and those at home who have encouraged war.Owen's war poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is dramatic and memorable, whether describing physical horror, such as in ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ or mental torment such as in‘ Disabled’. His poetry evokes more from us than simple disgust and sympathy. Owen sympathizes with the vain young men who have no idea of the horrors of war, who are ‘seduced’ by others (Jessie Pope) and the recruiting posters. The detail in Owen’s poetry puts forward his scenes horrifically and memorably. His poems are suffused with the horror of battle. Many of Owen’s poems bring across disturbing themes and images, which stay in the mind long after readers have read them. His aim is not poetry, but to describe the full horrors of war.

In this essay I have firstly decided to analyze two poems by the war poet Wilfred Owen, taken from his writings on the First World War. Both ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ and ‘Disabled” portray Owen’s bitter angst towards the war, but do so in different ways. Then I will analyze a very different poem ‘Who’s for the Game?’ written by Jessie Pope, and finally contrast this with the poems by Owen.

DISABLED

I think that in the poem ‘Disabled’, Wilfred Owen is trying to convey the real tragedy of war. Many people think only of those killed but reading the poem you remember that many people who were not killed in the war could still have suffered a lot more. In the poem Owen focuses on one young man, a single victim of war. It shows the effect the war has on the young man's life, when on returning from the war he has been maimed "legless, sewn short at elbow"

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Owen writes the poem with style. He uses the recruits contrasting memories and new views to create the war victim's true feelings "About this time town used to swing so gay", "He thought be better join in" - he wonders why. "Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn".

The poem also illustrates how his lifestyle changed dramatically. He was once a great athlete, popular with the girls but now he is in a wheelchair, "they touch him like a queer disease", and he notices how "their eyes pass from him to the strong men that were whole”. He is ...

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