Owen writes in iambic pentameter with ten syllables per line. The sense of urgency created by the alternating rhyme scheme is comparable to the chaotic and tense atmosphere of that on the battlefield. The fixed amount of syllables also help the reading and general flow of the poem whilst also emphasising the feelings of panic and discomfort through the imagery and metaphors used. “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge.” These same linguistic techniques are used in another of Owen’s most famous yet similar poetry pieces, Anthem for Doomed Youth. The poem is a sonnet and Owen uses this irony in writing about war instead of love to perhaps enhance the madness surrounding going to war. The poem also consists of roughly the same rhyming scheme and focuses more towards the religious aspect of things regarding the war. Religion was significant to Britain’s morale in winning the war. General Haig a commander in the First World War believed that God had appointed him to take charge and that it was God’s will for Britain to reign victorious. The effect and general tone of the poem created by this specific structure is comparable to an endless torment where death is the only option. Although more on the religious theme, Owen’s views on the horrors of war are certainly conveyed through techniques such as alliteration which act to provide emphasis. “Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle.” Analogies also included give similar effect about the true horror of the war similar to that of similes and metaphors. “Drawing-down of blinds.”
The harshness of war is portrayed in a different viewpoint in the poem Futility. Where Dulce et Decorum est focused mainly on the experiences and horror of fighting on the frontline the poem futility shows a mixture of emotions mainly that of grief and that the war is pointless. Owen conveys this range of feelings towards the war through techniques such as personification, rhyming and tone. Contrastingly to his other poems Owen’s views and emotions expressed in Futility are more solemn and disguised within the poem itself. Other poems such as Dulce et Decorum est have a straightforward argument which in this case is to show the war for what it actually is in terms of bloodshed and death, however again contrastingly in Futility the meaning is concealed. This is one of Owen’s few poems in which he expresses his hatred for war rather then just stating what war is like. In this way the poem Futility is more open to his personal thoughts and feelings and imagery and personification within the poem reflect his feelings and ideas on this issue. Noticeably the structure of the poem includes emphasis at the end of either stanza through a triplet of three sub-rhyming words. “Snow, now, know” and “Tall, toil, all.” This is effective in summing up his viewpoints and as a conclusion to express his feelings on how the war is a waste in terms of human life. Imagery along with metaphors is a key part of the effect and meaning of Owen’s poems. “Fields unsown.” Is an effective connotation in bringing to reality that death in war is permanent and that man’s actions cannot be undone.
Futility is a poem very much based around the theme of creation with many references to the sun and to nature. Nature and war are two very significant things and contrast each other. Owen uses nature to help portray the disastrous impact that the war has. “Was it for this the clay grew tall? O what made famous sunbeams toil.” This selected quote from the poem shows the personification used effectively by Owen. The reference to the sun as ‘a creator’ shows its importance however Owen uses this to show the devastation inflicted by man. “Are limbs, so dear achieved, are sides full nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?” This idea once again repeats that death is permanent and no matter what cannot be reversed. The tone changes as his outlook changes and this is effectively done by the use of different adjectives such as “Gently” to “Break” and from hope to despair. The change in mood to that of grief caused by the tone in the poem is effective in associating the reader with Owen’s outlook about the pointlessness of war.
As well as the aspect of death Owen wanted to show the perhaps more deadly and traumatising factors which affected a majority of the injured whilst they were wounded on the battlefield or recovering in the wards. The madness as a consequence of war is often undermined by various other more obvious things such as death yet it is equally important to know and understand the circumstances in which soldiers were facing. The poem Mental Cases provides an inspiring insight into the post-traumatic experiences of men after the war. In this poem Owen focuses on informing the public of the horrors linked with war and the fact that soldiers who were given disabilities by fighting for our country are often forgotten. Contrasting to his other poems such as Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth in which Owen concentrates on teaching about the actual specific horrors of war.
The strong, descriptive imagery is a reoccurring feature in the poem Mental Cases. This is achieved through choice and use of adjectives which emphasise the disabilities soldiers faced as a result of going to war. “Drooping tongues from jaws that slob their relish.” And “Therefore still their eyeballs shrink, tormented.” These two selected quotes offer good examples of the general ideas and contents of the poem. Owen uses what some may call ‘extreme’ language but its suits and effectively creates a desired affect of horror. The impact of words and disgusting images shocks and really emphasises the gruesome figures of soldiers who were once originally of similar stature and health. Although now a few centuries’ later healthcare and social awareness has improved dramatically, people suffering from disabilities and deformities are still forgotten and often neglected within society. Soldiers suffering during the war period would have been in a far less fortunate situation Through Owen’s use of descriptive and extreme imagery he was able to inform and publicise the experiences of war which are often forgotten.
Other poets such as Sassoon had similar ideas to Owen and help give us a varied and different viewpoint on war. Sassoon wrote during his military service at roughly the same time as Owen and as a result his convictions about the inhumanities of war are demonstrated in his work. Many of the techniques used are similar to Owen’s. Sassoon uses the idea of innocent slaughter as well as suicide as evidence for his feelings. The aspect of suicide is described very bluntly. “He put a bullet through his brain.” This shock tactic can also be found in many of Owen’s poems as well such as Mental Cases and Dulce et Decorum est. Shocking the reader is very effective at putting a point across and informing due to the instant attention grasped.
Sassoon’s use of personal pronouns in the final stanza means that the poem’s emphasis has a much greater impact on the reader. “You smug face crowds, You’ll never know.” The mocking style of the poet is effective at showing the reality of death and lives being lost through criticising the British public’s general naivety about their thoughts on war. “The hell where youth and laughter go.” The bold ending statement by Sassoon incorporates religion as well as a key criticism about the war. Many young soldiers were being conscripted to fill the places of those experienced and voluntary soldiers who died everyday. Army training was intensive and required specific knowledge; young recruits often did not have proper training and were often under the thumb of commanders and as a result many had no choice but to obey and in most cases for no real gain. Sassoon expresses his angered feelings and immorality about the war from this firsthand experience of seeing many young soldiers of some his comrades, dying for no real cause and furthermore their deaths not being realised by the British public.
By studying the work of Otto Dix a German painter we can achieve a better overall picture of generally how war was portrayed and assess and understand his similar or different convictions towards the war. The effective paintings shown below by Dix represent and conjure similar convictions and feelings to that expressed by Owen in his poems such as Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth. One of his most famous pieces titled ‘Sturmtruppe geht unter Gas vor’ was painted six years after yet many of the artistic techniques Dix uses still help to capture and portray his feelings on the war effectively. A trademark in most of his paintings is the monotone colour scheme, although dull the choice certainly emanates the dark, cold hearted fighting and also perhaps signifies the pointlessness of war and the ‘lost cause’ many people begun believing as the fighting continued over five years.
Dix’s paintings generally consist of monstrous characters and this shows his own personal emotions towards the war in showing how savage people were and ‘mans inhumanity to man’. Techniques such as the black and white striking images give a ‘nightmarish’ feel whilst the grotesque and mangled body is effective in shocking and showing the true horrors of war. Many of the crude images from Owen’s poems such as “Bent double, like old beggars.” And “All went lame; all blind” are also shown through the positioning and facial expressions of characters. In both paintings shown the bleak surroundings show the deserted helpless situation. It also portrays the images of ‘hell’ and ‘devil sick of sin’ which are repeatedly emphasised throughout Owen’s work.
Another characteristic of Otto’s paintings is the dreamlike effect created by the watercolour. The jagged edges associate the reader with feelings of despair and pain. His distorted style of characters portrays the brutal effects of suffering. Specifically in the painting of the wounded soldier the choice of background really shows the bleakness surrounding him. It represents the hopeless situation he is facing. The painting is a very good representation for the gruesome imagery created in the poem Mental Cases. “Awful falseness of set-smiling corpses.” These paintings are a few of many in which Dix uses certain colours and tones to express his view and publicise the dreadful aspects of war in which nobody should be forced to go through.
The theme of madness is also portrayed in the poem Mental Cases through the use of similes and metaphors. This common linguistic technique which Owen uses helps the visualization of the poem through effective imagery conjured up by the order and choice of words. “Dawn breaks open like a wound that bleeds afresh.” The choice of words really emphasise the horrific nature of these disabilities through the concept that they are ‘on-going’ and sustained by their inhibitor. By comparing the idea of being disabled to ‘dawn break’ it demonstrates that a disability normally lasts forever and will always be there with you tomorrow or in the future, similar to dawn where the sun will always rise. It once again portrays across effectively the troubles disabled people face in the world and highlights the fact that more fortunate people like ourselves still look down upon them as if they have done something wrong yet ironically they are the result of dedicated men serving their country.
Owen in many of his poems uses rhetorical questions and personal pronouns to create stronger links in which he can then convey his convictions as well as emotions. In Mental Cases for example the use of rhetorical questions are effective in relating more to the reader, as if blaming the reader for his ignorance in treating these disabled people differently. “Baring teeth that leer like skulls’ teeth wicked?” By using personal words Owen has a greater control over the reader’s emotions by making the disabled seem less fortunate whilst blaming the reader for what has happened. Owen also creates the feeling of empathy and sympathy within the reader by targeting people’s weaker emotional side. The personal pronouns in the final sentences of the poem add the sense of personal attachment “Brother” and generally these two techniques combined together to create the intended purpose of Owens which is to inform about the true horrific nature of the war.
Different aspects of religion have been incorporated into many of Owen’s pieces of poetry. The use of religion and in many cases about soldiers not receiving a ‘proper burial’ emanates the harshness of war. In the poem Mental Cases, each of the first line of the three stanzas is similar to that of the King James Version of Revelation 7.13-17:
“What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?...These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God.” Bible
“Who are these? Why sit here in twilight, These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished, Therefore still their eyeballs shrink tormented.” Mental Cases
This certainly provides evidence about the religious context surrounding warfare at the time. Particular in Mental Cases Owen’s similarities between that and a well known passage of The Bible which act to the same effect as a comparison and used to portray the harshness of war. “Can patter out their hasty orisons” and “Like a devil sick of sin” Christianity was the main religion in Britain at the time and is normally shown as a comforter yet in Owen’s poems the opposite effect is enforced. In Anthem for Doomed Youth which is perhaps one of Owen’s most religious poems he uses these religious references as a mockery towards the soldiers. “And bugles calling for them from sad shires.” Owen includes this irony in his poem to signify the somewhat pitiful death of the soldiers. Similar to a church service the different part of a service and represented by the different sounds such as ‘stuttering rifles’ for bells and wailing shells for choirs. The irony of weapons mocking dead soldiers when these were used as tools of destruction shows Owen’s view about the pitiful aspects of war and that soldier’s deaths were often unfair.
Owen died in action in November 1918. He was a great writer of war poetry and his experiences and feelings towards war were captured in the many pieces of poetry he wrote. His feelings about war provide a gruesome yet insightful view on the Great War. Through the many linguistic techniques he used such as metaphors and extreme imagery he managed to effectively convey his convictions which have changed people’s views about the different aspects of war.
