With specific focus on Wilfred Owen's Futility, Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum est, and Mental Cases evaluate the methods the poet uses to bring across his convictions, feelings and ideas.
With specific focus on Wilfred Owen's Futility, Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum est, and Mental Cases evaluate the methods the poet uses to bring across his convictions, feelings and ideas. "Who longs to charge and shoot, Do you my laddie." This jingoistic wartime poem by Jessie Pope ignites Owen's anger at these false impressions of war. This is evident in such poems as Dulce et Decorum est, originally penned towards Pope, hence the initial title, To a Certain Poetess. Owen's "senses were charred" at the sight of the "suffering of the troops", such accusations about the nature of warfare fuelling the malice of his work. Owen never openly retaliates, instead opting to include his resentment towards writers like Pope in his poems. Owen frequently conveys his convictions of lost youth in Anthem For Doomed Youth by referring to "the hands of boys", evidently refusing to acknowledge the maturity of the men. Owen's numerous references to religious symbols heightens the effects of his poems. In Anthem, we hear the "demented choirs of wailing shells." Angelic choirs are ironically reversed as Owen negates Christian ritual as being unfitting for those who die amid screaming shells. In Mental Cases, we also bear witness to Biblical images, asking if we are: "Sleeping, and walk hell But who these hellish?" Owen often compares war to Hell, comparing soldiers to creatures
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
How does Wilfred Owen use language and structure to explain the physical and mental effects of war on soldiers in 'Mental Cases', and 'Disabled'?
How does Wilfred Owen use language and structure to explain the physical and mental effects of war on soldiers in 'Mental Cases', and 'Disabled'? In the poems 'Mental Cases' and 'Disabled' by Wilfred Owen, Wilfred Owen has considered the structure of his text carefully in order to explore the mental and physical effects of war on soldiers. In the poem 'Mental Cases', the poet has used the heading to describe the soldiers' actions and thoughts it would seem. He has made the title plural to show that there is more than one soldier's mind that is being explored. The title also introduces, quite obviously, the subject of the poem. The soldiers had very mixed up minds, and as a result of this, Wilfred Owen has varied the length of the stanzas. Consequently, as there is no logic in the soldiers' minds, Wilfred Owen has used this clever technique to reflect this. Equally, there is no rhyme in the poem, and I think this again is because the soldiers can not think properly. In addition to using different sentence structure in this poem, different language has also been used. For instance, the line "Why sit they here in twilight?" is linked to "Wherefore rock they, purgatorial shadows". They both mean that the soldiers are existing between heaven and hell. They are not living, but are teetering on the brink of death, being surrounding by a grey existence. I believe this part of the
An analysis of the poetry of Wilfred Owen with specific reference to language used.
Laura Harvey 4Ng 15th January 2004 Wilfred Owen.[1893-1918] The Last Laugh. The Send Off. The Anthem for Doomed Youth. An analysis of the poetry of Wilfred Owen with specific reference to language used. Wilfred Owen was an English poet who specialised in writing about the war. Owen was born on 18th March 1893 in Oswestry. He was the son of a railway worker and the eldest of four children. Owen started his education at the Birkenhead Institute and then continued his education at the Shrewsbury Technical School. Wilfred Owen then started work as a pupil-teacher at Wyle Cop School while he prepared for his matriculation exam for the University of London. After failing to win a scholarship, in 1913, he found work as an English teacher at the Berlitz School in Bordeaux. In October 1915 he joined the army. The next he knew was that he was fighting at the Somme. He returned to England and was put in hospital only two years after he joined up in 1917 because of shellshock. Explosions from nearby shells and the content of the war caused the shellshock in general. Owen was send to Craiglockhart Hospital, in Edinburgh, and met Siegfried Sassoon, another war poet. In August 1918 Owen was declared fit and returned to the Western front. He fought at Beaurevoir-Fonsomme, where he was awarded the Military Cross.
Comparing poems Exposure and Anthem for Doomed Youth
Comparing poems - 'Exposure' and 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' Both these poems are similar but also different in many ways. Although they both explain about the hardships of war, they do it in different contexts. 'Exposure' is about how the weather in a war situation can be like an enemy, with its sly winds and harsh ice which kills like the enemy ,the weather is as cold and bitter as war, acting like '...merciless iced east winds'. While 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is more of a warning poem, showing how war really is behind all the propaganda and how war is not how it seems and how each life is worth less than the first, most soldier's seem to '...die as cattle'. Both poems also have different tones when compared. The tone and mood of 'Exposure' is very sombre, and dull almost melancholic due to the weariness of the soldier's, how they stand defeated by Mother Nature. For example in the poem Owen uses the phrase 'but nothing happens' 4 times, showing the mood to be dull and weary. While the tone of 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is very bitter and scornful, as it is about how underappreciated the soldiers are, and I think it reflects how he feels about war, and his warning for the future generation. The tone is showed, on lines 4-5 were it is written, 'Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;' especially on line 5, as it is almost
A Critical Analysis of Wind By Ted Hughes
A Critical Analysis of Wind By Ted Hughes Hughes's opening line is sculpted in such a way that it gives the reader an abundance of sensations. The poet achieves amazing efficiency in the line "far out at sea all night" in that the reader is exposed to distance, time and environment. The metaphor of the house being "out at sea" projects the image of a boat "far out" feeling totally isolated. The house faces wave upon wave of inexhaustible pounding from the wind as a boat would from an enraged sea. The time scale of "all night" could literally mean all night or it may refer to the perception that the wind is so acutely intense that it feels prolonged. The words "crashing", "booming" and "stampeding elevate the wind to one of biblical proportions which sounds like an orchestra thumping out a killer crescendo. The line "stampeding the fields" accentuate the brutality of the wind attacking the natural surroundings. In keeping with the oceanic metaphor the house "floundering" evokes a sense futility. The alliteration in "black" and "blinding" impose emphasis upon the words and a heightened sense of awareness in the reader. The second stanza is a witness to the winds legacy. The magnitude of the winds power is illustrated with "the hills had new places". The ultimate measure of the winds potency is that its changed the environment which we would normally imagine reassuringly
Compare the poems 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney and ' 'Out Out- ' ' by Robert Frost
Compare the poems 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney and ' 'Out Out- ' ' by Robert Frost After reading the poems 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney and ' 'Out Out- ' ' by Robert Frost I am able to point out many similarities between the poems but also a number of differences. The first of these similarities is the theme. Both poems focus on the death of a young boy. However both offer very different treatments of that theme. 'Mid-Term Break' focuses on the aftermath of a terrible accident where Seamus Heaney chooses to focus his attention on the emotional responses of his friends and family while ' 'Out Out- ' ' shows the reader the accident as it happens in almost a running commentary style. 'Mid-Term Break' offers a much more emotional outlook on such a bleak subject, emphasising on the importance of life. ' 'Out Out- ' ' is hard-hitting in a different way. The lack of emotion in the poem is used effectively to help portray the much more negative message that Robert Frost is trying to express. In 'Mid-Term Break', Seamus Heaney tries to tell the reader about everybody's rite of passage, the importance and sanctity of life. Heaney emphasises throughout the poem that his brother's life was thrown away, he was cut off in his prime. The poem starts off by describing Heaney in his college sick-bay. At this point in the poem we don't know what has happened but it is clear that
Doomed Youth
Anthem for doomed youth is a poem by Wilfred Owen in which there is a sinister atmosphere evoked by the poet's use of imagery, rhythm, alliteration, symbolism and structure. This sinister atmosphere add to my appreciation of the poem by the effectiveness of these techniques at bringing me closer to the emotions and allowing me to consider the impact of such event on real people. The poem has an ironic title, an anthem being a celebratory song whilst doomed has negative connotations of death and sadness. It is set in the trenches of World War One and compares the realities of death on the battlefield with the traditional, religious funeral service. The poem is split into two parts, first part, an eight line octet evokes the noises of battle, whilst the second part, a six line sestet, deal with the settled grief left behind after a death. Throughout Owen skilfully evokes a sinister atmosphere by using various literary techniques to suggest the cold, ominous and sinister atmosphere of a funeral. In the first line of this sonnet Owen refers to the dead soldiers as "those who die as cattle", this simile introduces the idea of death and compares the deaths to those of cattle to suggest for the first time his theme that death in such circumstance is not glorious, but futile. He then further develops the sinister atmosphere by introducing the thought of a funeral, by using the word
Poetry from different Cultures
Essay Describing Devices Used in 'Blessing' When we read poems, very few people actually take in the devices used and make sense of the way the poet uses them and still fewer people take the time to decipher why the poet has used that specific device in that specific place. The devises often have hidden meanings, and are used to make the poem flow better. In this essay, I will be describing, analysing and evaluating why and how Imtiaz Dharker has used the devices she has incorporated into the 'Blessing'. The title of the poem alone, 'Blessing' is a strong word which could mean that what happens in the poem is special, almost like a miracle, which helps set the mood of this poem very early on. The first line, 'The skin cracks like a pod' is not only an effective simile, but it's a way of setting the scene and cultural aspects of the poem as the first image of a pod that comes to mind is a cocoa pod, which cracks in the sun's heat or is cracked open to get to the cocoa beans. The cocoa pod is from somewhere like Africa. In the second line, the way the words are placed really emphasises the word 'never' as it catches you out when reading out loud. You would normally say that phrase as 'is never', but in this poem, to emphasize the rhythm and the word 'never' the sentence is 'never is'. In the second stanza, onomatopoeia plays a fairly big part, taking over 3 words, 'drip',
Follower by Seamus Heaney
Follower Seamus Heaney The follower is written by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, the poem is about the poets love and admiration for his father. The poem is also about the changes that occur between father and children as children move out from their parent's shadow. We learn a lot about both the relationship that existed between them and the way Heaney saw his family. In the first half of the poem Heaney presents us with a vivid portrait of his father as he appeared to the poet as a young boy. The poet, as a young boy, follows his father as he goes about his work and like most boys, he idolises his father and admires his great skill, ` an expert` with the horse-plough and Heaney as a little boy would simply get in his fathers way. In the poem, Heaney looks up to his father in a physical sense, because he is so much smaller than his father, but he also looks up to him in a metaphorical sense. This is made clear by the poet's careful choice of words. 'His eye narrowed and angled at the ground, mapping the furrows exactly.' These words effectively suggest his father's skill and precision. We are also told that young Heaney 'stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,' which brings to our mind a picture of the ploughman's heavy boots, the carefully ploughed furrow and the child's clumsy enthusiasm. The poet uses onomatopoeic words to capture the details of his father as he works the
