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.
Tybalt and Mercutio’s death) • Elegy is about a “bloody fray”, but leaves out parts of Mercutio’s insults to Tybalt. • Tries to provide a fair account of what happened, maintaining that Romeo behaved properly while Mercutio and Tybalt wanted to fight. Also how he did not have time to intervene, as it went by so fast. • Elegy: a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead. • Elegy is also considered an epic poem: ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events • In the elegy, mention of Mercutio was left out and positive comments of Romeo’s behaviour, believed that Benvolio was homosexual.
This positive representation of conflict could be linked to Tennyson’s role of Poet Laureate under Queen Victoria’s reign. On the other hand Futility could be considered as an elegy for the unnamed solider and opens with a tender and sad tone shifting to pointlessness in the second stanza. The use of the pronoun him in the opening line suggests this could be any soldier from World War one demonstrating the number of men who would remain unnamed and unclaimed during this conflict and how bad it was that so many people died, and even the most patriotic soldiers would still die, unnamed in the end. The Charge of the light Brigade comprises of six stanzas, of varying in length from six to twelve lines and goes in chronological order. This could offer the reader the sense of riding in to the battle with the soldiers.
Also the use off an oxymoron "restless silence" foreshadows the tragedy that is to come. Larkin presents loss off time with the adverbs "never", "all day", "domesday", "past", "lasting" and "leaving" these adverbs represent the negative impact of war and how time passed so fast. Larkin places capitals at the beginning off line, this reinforces authorities power at he beginning of the war, and how they had such a massive impact on people's loss of lives. Larkin uses both poetic devices and language devices technically through out his poem, all of these devices highlight the impact off war and the extreme losses people had
In contrast Tennyson’s Charge depicts a disastrous 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 the orders were foolish. Futility could be considered as an elegy for the unnamed solider and opens with a tender and sad tone shifting to pointlessness in the second stanza. The use of the pronoun ‘him’ in the opening line suggests this could be any soldier from World War I demonstrating the number of men who would remain unnamed and unclaimed during this conflict. On the contrary Charge is patriotic with Tennyson celebrating the courage and obedience of the soldiers – this can be seen in his use of ‘glory, honour/noble’.
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.
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.
Jessica C Anthem for a Doomed Youth: Wilfred Owen Thesis statement: In "Anthem for a Doomed Youth" Wilfred Owen questions the social, religious and political values of the 20th century by using a variety of poetic techniques. Introduction War poetry became an influential genra amongst the British population during the First World War, people admired the truthfulness of the authors who spoke of the horrors that they experienced through poetry. Owen Wilson was one of the most praised authors of his times; his poems depicted the brutality and the horror of war with depth and reality, his art was a mix between criticism of war and patriotism for his country and fellow soldiers. In “Anthem for a Doomed Youth”, Wilfred Owen questions social, religious and political values of the 20th century by using a variety of poetic techniques. Owen depicts the human cost of war and the social and religious ritual’s inability to commemorate properly the dead.
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.
Friends, Classmates, Fellow literary critics… Today, I am here to stress my knowledge on how the composer’s Siegfried Sassoon and Rupert Brooke have effectively conveyed their thoughts and feelings on war using themes, issues and techniques. Siegfried Sassoon chose to convey the theme of the outcomes war has had in those who survived (hence the name survivors) and how the process of war has aged them prematurely and darkened there spirits. The poem ‘survivors’ is a clever and well structured poem, Sassoon incorporates many techniques to emphasise and illuminate his main theme . Siegfried Sassoon uses primarily literal language; he rarely speaks metaphorically or figuratively thus the reason why we don’t see a frequency in metaphors, similes or imagery throughout the poem. He evokes a very bitter outraged mood in the reader, he’s thoughts and feelings produce anger and spite.