Pope thinks that war was good and it was Ok to die during it but Owen strongly disagreed with that. Sassoon uses the title Attack to describe what the poem is about. The poem is about the attack on no-man’s land so he just simply decides not to confuse he reader with what he is talking about. Although in the poem he confuses the reader in a way that they don’t understand the horrors of the war. Owen portrays the horrors of the war by focusing on one person and aspect within the war, the gas attacks.
In this essay I will explore the emotions and moods portrayed in two poems, ‘Suicide in the Trenches’ by Siegfried Sassoon and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen. Siegfried Sassoon was twenty-eight years old when he joined the Army, this was old by the standards at the time with the average age of recruits being 16/17 years. Sassoon was a 2nd lieutenant in charge of leading these boys as he seen them. He was nicknamed ‘Mad Jack’ for his near suicidal exploits on the battlefield. He survived the war living to eighty years old but was deeply affected by the horrors of war.
The biblical allusion of the term ‘angel’ symbolises a moral conscience, in the hope of changing Abrams mind, as well as on a didactic level, symbolising the mothers and loved ones of the soldiers. This signifies the hope of reconciliation of the people who care about the soldiers, highlighting the horrific situation in which the soldiers reside and the governments deliberate inaction to do anything. Owen uses the bureaucracy’s pride and personifies it as a ‘Ram’ because it can be seen to the audience as arrogant and steadfast. This emphasizes the bureaucracy’s resolute notion on the use of conscription and the taking of many young men by force. By identifying the unjust experiences felt by the soldiers, Owen shed light upon the action of which the bureaucracy intends to
Firstly, Sassoon effectively uses irony to illustrate the contrast between the soldier’s real and glorified death, as well as the impression of a close-knit military unit, as opposed to the truth that no one had the compassion to care for a fallen soldier. The first, most obvious irony is in the title itself: The Hero. From the title we expect to read a poem dedicated to the fall of a great soldier, courageous and chivalrous, who sacrificed himself to fight for his country. This impression is further affirmed in the first stanza. There, we are introduced to the mother as she receives
Soldiers who go off to war are meant to be healthy and strong, however, this poem portrays the soldiers as old and unhealthy people. Owen uses images that are far from noble. The soldiers are described as, ‘bent double, like old beggars under sacks’ and ‘coughing like hags’, and this highlights the exhaustion the soldiers were feeling. Considering that the exhaustion of the soldiers is representing humanity at its worst, this emphasises how Owens poetry is driven by a passionate exploration of humanity at its worst. The poem is also able to depict how the soldier’s condition is, and what they should be.
The poet is saying that people should not talk about war as enthusiastically as it gives the impression that war is glorious. Furthermore, he says that the idea that ’it is sweet and right’ to die for your country is entirely untrue. Through this, we are able to form the opinion that war is not okay because it is a serious thing that carries many negative consequences. In Wilfred Owen’s poem Dolce et Decorum est, the use of similes conveys the harsh reality of war on soldiers as it changes them dramatically and kills the majority of them. In the first two lines of the poem, Owen uses the similes “Bent double like old beggars under sacks, knocked kneed, coughing like hags” to paint a grim picture in readers minds of how the soldiers were.
Compare the ways in which Owen powerfully portrays the physical and mental consequences of war in ‘Disabled’ and ‘Mental Cases’ Wilfred Owen is a famous poetry writer, he was a soldier in world war one and wrote poems about his and other peoples experiences of the war. Owen was born on the 18th March 1893, and died a tragic 7 days before the war ended on the 4th November 1918 by a German counter attack at the young age of 25. The two poems I will be comparing are ‘Mental Cases’ and ‘disabled’. ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen displays the thoughts and feelings of a young man who has lost his limbs after suffering the injuries of war; “his ghastly suit of grey, legless, sewn short at elbow” this gives the reader the feeling the man is old, and unwell; although later on in the poem it shows you that he is not old at all, “There was an artist silly for his face, for it was younger than his youth, last year” this shows the reader that he was good looking, before he lost his arms and legs, just one year ago, but now he is like an old man before his time. ‘Mental Cases’, on the other hand, describes soldiers who had devolved shell-shock after the war, hence ‘Mental Cases’.
Lacking of aims in the army originates from the nerves and sadden, hence they need a way to relief, “lack of rum” (l.6) defines rum was given to troops, steadying nerves, increasing confidence and forget. These performances censure the government’s inability to provide a better circumstance for solders. The worst thing is that rum has become scarcely, only high officials are capable to obtain it. The critical language is used frequently to judge the government’s heartless actions are by citizens. Sassoon uses sympathetic language to portray the mood of a young soldier by his actions.
Wilfred Owen was an active soldier during WWI, who used his horrific experiences during the war to write his poems. His poems stemmed from his views on war, as he believed that although war was sometimes necessary, it was futile and evil. Two of his poems, ‘Exposure’ and ‘Disabled’ both reveal the price paid by soldiers during WWI. ‘Exposure’ examines the more psychological effects on the soldiers and is written from the view of the soldiers on the front line, ‘Disabled’ shows the aftermath and repercussion of fighting in WWI and the physical damage it caused. The first word in ‘Exposure’ is ‘our’ and is written in first person plural, showing the reader that Owen wanted to convey the plight of the universal soldier and how they all suffered the same fate, no matter their side.
From first view two epics “The Iliad” and “Bhagavad-Gita” looked so entirely different for me. Two completely distant cultures, huge difference in religion, Achilles, who has very little pity for man who will be dying because of his desire of revenge and Arjuna, who is opposing his fight for grief and compassion for people he is fighting against. What kind of motivation each of them has to fight? What glory and honor mean for Achilles and Arjuna? Can it be that they start their fights from different direction but end up fighting with the same purpose, for the same idea?