Dulce Et Decorum Est". "Anthem for doom youth". "Night Patrol" and "Survivors". Which of these poems are clearly anti-war?

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“Consider the four war poems. “Dulce Et Decorum Est”. “Anthem for doom youth”. “Night Patrol” and “Survivors”. Which of these poems are clearly anti-war? How do the two poems written about the Second World War differ from the first world war poems in their purpose and message?

NOTES

Dulce Et Decorum Est is written by Wilfred Owen. Owen is very anti-war and believes no good can come from it. In Dulce Et Decorum Est his use of language and description conveys this anti-war theme which can be seen. Owen starts the poem, 'Bent Double like old beggars under sacks) This use of simile describing the men as, 'old beggars' because they are bent over due to the weight of the sacks helps bring the poem to life.

On the second line Owen continues to use similes, 'Knock kneed, coughing like old hags. This use of comparison creates a vivid image in our minds. Owen describes the horrors of war and what the soldiers had to go through, 'Many had lost their boots, But limped on blood-shot,' and uses of metaphors 'Drunk with fatigue'. This use of language makes you feel as though you know the soldiers and you begin to feel sorrow for them.

In Dulce et Decorum Est at the end of the battle the soldiers are extremely tired. They walk with hunched-up shoulders, carrying heavy packs and supporting their wounded mated. They are ill because they have no protection against all kinds of weather. They cough 'like hags' - simile. Hags ugly, old scruffy women. They walk with difficulty through the slimy! thick mud on the battlefield, cursing when they stumble or slip because they are too tired to control their movements.

After some time they are able to walk away from the scene of the battlefield, which is lit by the bursting bombs and the flares that produce an unnatural light and reveal where the soldiers they are hiding. The light is ghostly, eerie and flares up regular1y. They walk with grate difficulty because they have reached the end of their endurance and the comfort and safety of a place where they can rest are very far away w

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Due to their acute weariness, they seem to fall asleep on their feet.

Those who have lost their boots have suffered cuts on their feet. These wounds bleed, but are not dressed, So that the layers of dried mud and blood stick like shoes to their feet.

These soldiers are more dead than alive - they cannot walk properly, they cannot see what is happening around them and they have lost control of their movements. This metaphor is followed by the statement that they have lost all their senses.

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