GAS! Quick, boys!’ places a confronting reality amongst the literature. In addition, polysyllabic verbs such as ‘fumbling’, ‘stumbling’ and ‘floundering’ force you, the reader to place emphasis on these depictive words which create visuals and mirror those moments of sheer desperation. It is through the controlling techniques of pace and imagery in my poetry that I hoped to depict the violence and utter vulnerability of life at war. However, the horror does not stop there, the dehumanisation is unrelenting.
‘Mental Cases’, written by Wilfred Own, is a poem about the devastating effects of modern warfare and the men who die and suffer through it. Owen candidly states the truth about war and how it affects the men who fight in it. ‘Mental Cases’ is about World War One and the shell shock men endured when they came back from war. He uses imagery, diction and irony to make his ideas more clear to his audience. The first stanza directly addresses the reader, he opens with two rhetorical questions, “Who are these?
An important theme throughout the poem is the concept of war used to glorify violence. The title of the poem which was widely used propaganda at that time exalts the concept of war, saying it’s a good and honourable thing to die for your country, but in reality, as evidenced by the soldier in the poem could not be more different. The idea of suffering is explored with the use of depressing and dismal language. The use of simile such as “bent double like old beggars” gives the impression that the soldiers have been prematurely aged, and seemingly deformed by the harsh conditions of war. This simile is an important contrast of the information people were fed at the time of soldiers being strong and proud.
“I hate that drum's discordant sound” is the source of his tension and fear at the war; the use of the word “discordant” mirrors his own inner conflict at the war and how he feels about it. Significantly, Scott, like Carson, uses strong imagery to convey feeling of conflict and tension in his poem “The Drum” The imagery is one of horror and death. “And when Ambition's voice commands,” The word “Ambition’s” is like the recruiting officer for an army. It is personifying “Ambition” and showing that the men who want to fight are pushed into it by an officer that makes it sound very enticing. The word commands talks of how the men really don’t have a choice in joining the fight or not as if they are already in the army.
The image of this poor beast’s face became more eternal in my mind with every mutilating shot from Rat Kiley’s gun, sending it into a state of motionless misery. Kiley’s actions were a reflection of his angst and therefore, this story illustrates the ugliness of war. While I do favor the story’s passion, I find this story would be difficult for the majority of its readers to label as true, just as the narrator explains, “You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask….You’d feel cheated if it never happened. Without the grounding reality, it’s just a trite bit of puffery, pure Hollywood” (O’Brien 956). This tale seems too bizarre and melodramatic which creates a fictional sense, and so, contradicts the narrator‘s main point.
Winston Churchill * "When a good man is hurt, all who would be called good must suffer with him." Euripides * "Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable." (attributed to) William Shakespeare * "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone." Harriet Beecher Stowe * "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." Confucius * "It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us."
Owen is addressing the reader, who possibly doesn’t have the first hand experience of the war, and criticising the enthusiasm with which the war is described, particularly to vulnerable children (BBC, 2013). Owen uses the language and a variety of literary devices to vividly depict the true reality of war and suffering of the soldiers. This is evident from the first two lines where Owen uses simile to describe soldiers who are ‘like old beggars’ and ‘coughing like hags’ (lines 1,2). They are ‘blood-shod’, ‘drunk with fatigue’ (lines 6,7). Owen depicts soldiers not as undefeatable heroes, but desperate, weak, and pitiful human beings.
The poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen is incredibly thought provoking and it effectively tells us about all the suffering that took place during WW1. The theme of this poem is War. The poem begins with stanza one. It opens by describing the young soldiers who are returning from a battle, and are physically and emotionally exhausted. It shows us this by comparing the soldiers who should be young and fit to old beggars under sacks.
Wilfred Owen said “my subject is war, and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity’”. The three poems I wish to explore portray Owen’s pity towards men going through the First World War. ‘The Send-off’ shows anonymous men who are about to depart to the battlefront, ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ explores trench life and, ‘Disabled’ charts the legacy of war on the wounded. ‘The send -off’, shows Owen’s cynical attitude towards war.
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.