‘Mental Cases’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ are two outstanding pieces created by Owen, each using techniques such as hyperboles, personification and imagery that associate the two poems, giving us, the readers, a bigger picture of what is happening in the poets eyes. In the poem Mental Cases Owen expresses his perception that war is taking away a soldiers future, a life full of happiness. It illustrates the bloodshed and suffering of war, using a series of graphical description of young men who are treated for war-related illness’, such as shellshock. It was a heart-wrenching poem for Owen because he himself was a patient of shellshock. The repetition of question marks and dashes illustrate the confusion and frustration witnessing Owens fellow comrades, it is a demanding tone begging for explanation for the entrapment of victims.
“A good poem may lead to sadness, joyful or simply wandering, but it always leads us to think more deeply about life” Discuss this statement with reference to at least two Sassoon’s poems. A good poem may lead to sadness, joyful or simply wandering, but it always leads us to think more deeply about life. A War poem is a poem that is written on the subject of war. It is applied especially to those in military service. The nature of war poem is to show how horrible and disgusting war is.
We can tell that he is hurt psychologically as it says ‘unexploded mine buried deep in his mind’ and physically as it says ‘the rungs of his broken ribs’ these are both effects of his traumatic experience at war. The distribution of each stanza could also show the distance that she now has with the subject because of his lack of understanding of his painful experiences and emotions. As a reader, it sounds like she is writing the poem the way she would be saying it, this emphasises the shortness of each stanza and the small steps she has to take to his recovery, which is also shown in the tone of the poem as she sounds in pain, which makes the reader feel sorry for her. However, in ‘Hour’, the poem is separated into four stanzas, which all have four lines each apart from the last stanza which has two lines. Each stanza has emotive language of the writer’s feelings, we know this as it says things such as ‘we are millionaires, backhanding the night’ this gives the reader the impression that their relationship is stable and strong unlike the fragmented relationship in ‘The Manhunt’.
This technique also gives an interesting perspective of how many middle easterners view the western world. Although this poem describes the experiences of a specific group of people—Middle Eastern immigrants—the message applies to everyone who has experienced regret and unfulfilled expectations. Every couple of lines the author begins with a simple, non-specific statement such as “we think”, that, when looked at as a whole tell an entirely different story. The deeper meaning in this poem lies in the repetition between the lines. The lines “We think…we wish…we forget…then, we arrive…we turn away…we look [for a connection to what is now lost]…we miss” show how mislead ideas can cause people to yearn for what they think will bring satisfaction.
What mattered was the truth of war and what he felt he must share and let people know. The pararhyme here links key words and ideas, without detracting from the meaning and solemnity of the poem, as a full rhyme sometimes does. However, the failure of two similar words to rhyme and the obvious omission of a full rhyme creates a sense of discomfort and incompleteness. It is a discordant note that matches well to the disturbing mood of the poem. Therefore, Theme 1: Brutality and horrors of war (and their effect on the individual) Poem 1: topic sentence, quotes, techniques, analysis/ significance/ effect, link to question Poem 2: topic sentence, quotes, techniques, analysis/ significance/ effect, link to question Paragraph 2 To Owen, war is not sweet, nor is it honourable and these ideas are explored throughout the poem, Dulce et Decorum est.
Are there any poetic devices used in this poem? State the device and explain its use? Ans: There are many poetic devices in this poem just by reading the name of the poem alone. Irony is used in the name of the poem because as we know an anthem is more like a song of praise or a sincere song and it is used to remember the "children" that will die in this war so really it is a requiem for the dead. 2.
He survived the horror and was liberated by American soldiers, but he has been changed forever. Since then Wiesel’s purpose in life is to create peace and understanding. He has been writing and speaking to people around the world educating them on the cruelty and mistreatment that occurs. Not only does he mention the Holocaust, he addresses other catastrophes such as Uganda, Kosovo, Ireland, Rwanda and many others. Among all of these examples Wiesel notes a common similarity, indifference.
Throughout the whole poem, the readers are able to know his disapproval, dislike and displeasure over the place that he lives in, by creating a moody and sullen tone which enhances the eerily seriousness of the atmosphere. The content, aim and the theme help to reinforce the writer’s intentions and message of the poem. Through the four quatrains, iambic tetrameter poem, it shows a society that is portrayed as being devastated and grim. Using the basic rhyme scheme of abab, it shows how the people and the places are infected and affected. The rhyme is able to give a flow to the events, making it on-going showing how the society keeps on worsening day by day.
However this is human nature and Auden is merely showing from this poem that suffering is something that no person can understand until it happens to them and when they see someone else suffer it’s almost a relief to them that it isn’t happening to them. This may come across as some arrogant or dispassionate but it is of course human nature and is something that we cannot control. In the poem Victor, again there is the same idea of suffering. The poem in short is about a boy who has a close minded father who is quite religious as some of the things he says to Victor can be related to certain passages in the bible. “Don’t you ever tell lies” this could be referring to one of the Ten Commandments “Thou shall not tell lies” which already we can gather that his father was a very strict father who cares about his legacy and does this by indoctrinating his son with all these ideas.
The poem shows the strength the person that died and the pain he or she had to go through. The poem Epitaph, also deals with an unjustly act that was done. This act that was done was on a Clement morning and left sorrow in the hearts of the fellow onlookers of the man that died. This poem also promotes oral history. This poem also mentions children playing but they did not know they were to know they were to stop and pay their respect to the dead.