Comparing Poems, The Soldier & Dulce et Decorum est.

Comparing Poems, The Soldier & Dulce et Decorum est. I will be comparing two poems in this essay, The Soldier, (1915) By Rupert Brooke, and Dulce et Decorum est (1917) By Wilfred Owen. I will be comparing the views of both writers and also the techniques/language they use to convey that view, both writers have distinct views on war. The poems are similar in the simple fact they are about war itself, but the views and messages within the poems are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Both writers portray their views in different ways, for example, Rupert Brooke has chosen to describe his dead body as a symbol for England. "If I should die, think only this of me" the poem then goes on to describe England in a very patriotic way, "In hearts at peace, under an English heaven." The words "peace" and "heaven" create a peaceful and heavenly feel within the poem, they are calming, soothing words, and they give the poem that edge or serenity. Then, on the other hand Wilfred Owen has chosen too depict a gruesome war story that he himself had witnessed. He use's words such as "Blood-shod" and phrases like "Obscene as cancer" to emphasize the horror's of war, also taking the reader to a level of understanding with the brutality in war, brutality that isn't usually flaunted. The language used in both poems is vastly different from each other, even though both poems were about war.

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  • Word count: 1169
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast Horses by Edwin Muir and Pike by Ted Hughes

Harry YandleEnglishMr Evans Compare and Contrast “Horses” by Edwin Muir and “Pike” by Ted Hughes ________________ Both “Horses” by Edwin Muir and “Pike” have a title which is a clear statement of intent on what the poem is about. However both of these poems seem to symbolise something more complex, on top of the simple animal poem which it could be interpreted as. Both Ted Hughes and Edwin Muir, ‘animal poets’ have a pastoral lust for the countryside and were writing around the time when Darwin published his “Origin of Species”; This could explain why both poets seem to portray their respective animals rather negatively and yet in conclusion, the poets seem to relish nature despite being fearful of it; “I must pine // Again for that dread country crystalline”. Edwin Muir has a paradoxical wishing for the dreadful country side as it has been taken away from him and hast lost the magic and down-to-earth innocence he had as a child. Hughes’s poetry however dwells on the innate violence in the natural world and on instinctive predatory behaviour; yet he sees to view it as appropriate. He attempts to reconcile what at first appears to be a horrible violence in nature. Perhaps human beings are no different from a creature such as the pike, driven by impulse and appetite in a universe that follows no moral law but eat or be eaten. Hughes clearly views

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare methods used to present danger in Storm on the Island and Patrolling Barnegat.

Compare methods used to present danger in Storm on the Island and Patrolling Barnegat. Seamus Heaney and Walt Whitman use different techniques to portray danger within their poems Storm on the Island, a poem which describes the effects of the storm on the inhabitants of the island and explains that although they are initially prepared they are actually still frightened of the danger, and Patrolling Barnegat, which depicts a violent storm blowing into an American bay. Both poems describe each storm and the effects it has on the land, skills used involve language devices and description, they portray a certain image in the readers mind about the danger that the storm poses. They both use language devices to convey the fright and distress the storm causes. Water is usually seen as a source of life and tranquillity, however that idyllic image is turned on its head in the simile 'spits like a tame cat,' which suggests the spray from the sea is frightening in Storm on the Island just like the alliteration used in 'combs careering' makes the waves sound like they are crashing down in Patrolling Barnegat. Each of the descriptions are suggesting that the water from the sea becomes threatening and dangerous during each of the storms. Words such as 'spit' and 'careering' are quite menacing words advocating that the water could cause damage. The descriptive war-like language in

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  • Word count: 590
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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