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.
A technique used to enhance the mood is imagery. Such as, describing the soldiers as “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”. By using this simile it gives us a good description of the soldiers and suggests how unclean, malnourished and the health the soldiers are. Another good image used is “Drunk with fatigue” this implies the idea of the soldiers being unaware of things happening around them but by saying they are drunk with fatigue gives the idea they are struggling to move, even stand because they’re so tired from fighting. By using words like “sludge” and “trudge” contrasts with the way an average person perceives the idea of a soldier, they are usually seen as marching and singing songs to keep up spirits however this is not the case here.
This simile is an important contrast of the information people were fed at the time of soldiers being strong and proud. Owen strips away the image of a glorified war to reveal the bitter and cruel nature of the war. The bitter imagery “Coughing like hags” and “but limped on” also develops the idea of these young man seeming old. Owen takes pity on these tired and weary soldiers as he describes them in the most unglamorous, inglorious manner. The statement “all went lame, all blind’, while being somewhat hyperbolic suggests that the soldiers had lost all previous objectives of war along with the line “cursed through sludge”.
Not only are their lives wasted, gone without the holy ritual of funeral, but the lives of their loved ones at home are also ruined. This poem starts off at a quick pace, and then continues to decelerate throughout the poem, drawing to a slow, solemn and sombre close. Throughout this poem the traditional feel of an elaborate ceremonial of a Victorian style funeral is constantly compared and contrasted to the ways in which men died in the war. The title 'Anthem for Doomed Youth,' with anthems usually being associated with love and passion, is very deliberately ironic. It is a way in which Owen shows how ridiculous he really thought the war was.
HOW DOES WILFRED OWEN CONVEY THE HORRORS OF WAR IN POETRY ? Many of Owen's poems direct anger towards the generals and those at home who have encouraged war.Owen's war poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is dramatic and memorable, whether describing physical horror, such as in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' or mental torment such as in' Disabled'. His poetry evokes more from us than simple disgust and sympathy. Owen sympathizes with the vain young men who have no idea of the horrors of war, who are 'seduced' by others (Jessie Pope) and the recruiting posters.
The Holocaust ruined numerous lives, including that of Evelyn Roman, who wrote “Aftermath”: a sorrowful poem that described her feelings about the concentration camps. Wiesel and Roman both share different and insightful outlooks about their experiences in the toughest part of their lives. They still remember a great deal of details “fifty years after the fact…” that they wish could vanish in an instant (1). Wiesel and Roman wondered every minute why they endured those experiences: no human deserves the horror they survived. Knowing that someone actually lived these stories made it almost unbearable to
Compare how Conflict is presented in The Charge of the Light Brigade and one other poem. Alfred Tennyson’s charge of the light brigade shows a horrific battle during the Crimean War and therefore shows the disbelief and horror of conflict. Tennyson uses the poem to show the admiration and bravery of the solders in their determination to obey orders even though they were thoughtless. In contrast the title of Wilfred Owen’s Futility shows the overpowering sense of uselessness and helplessness in relation to conflict, felt by the soldiers in the face of their friends recent death. The poem focuses on the effect of conflict and is focused on an injured, probably dead soldier.
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.
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.
The first stanza directly addresses the reader, he opens with two rhetorical questions, “Who are these? Why sit they here in twilight?” (1) These sentences are grammatically incorrect and use distorted language. This is symbolic of the disturbed and unstable minds of the soldiers. Using these questions he directly speaks to his audience as well as incorporating a major theme of the poem, insanity. “Drooping tongues from jaws that slob like relish.” (3) This line uses imagery to metaphorically compare men to animals and show how bad the condition of the soldiers really is.