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.
/ Does it dry” (1-2) and “syrupy sweet” (7), and his use of the repetition of the question “Does it…” in lines 2 and 6 as well as his irregular rhyme scheme and rhythmic quality cause the reader to become frustrated, as they are driven forward only to fall into a pattern almost recognizable. In the last line, Hughes uses one final question and violent language to underline the importance of the fact that these dreams must not be put aside. The inherent power in the dreams will “explode”
When fevers burn or ague freezes, Rheumatics gnaw or colic squeezes, Our neebors sympathise to ease us Wi' pitying moan; But thee! - the hell o' a' diseases, They mock our groan! Of a' the num'rous human dools - Ill-hairsts, daft bargains, cutty-stools, Or worthy frien's laid i' the mools, - Sad sight to see! - The tricks o' knaves or fash o' fools - Thou bear'st the gree! Whare'er that place be priests ca' Hell, Whare a' the tones o' misery yell, An' ranked plagues their numbers tell In dreadfu' raw, Thou, Toothache, surely bear'st the bell Amang them a'!
Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales: Knight’s Tale stop this crying until they had caught the reins of his bridle. 904 “What people are you who disturb the festival of my homecoming thus with lamentations?” said Theseus. “Have you so great ill-will toward my honors that you so complain and cry? Or who has done you ill? Tell me if it may be amended.
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”.
Poem Essay: Dulce et Decorum Est Hour 3 AP Lit and Comp Stippel January 26, 2015 Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen, 1893 - 1918 Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas!
In ‘The Sentry’, the repetition of “I’m blind” helps give a sense of the increasing distress of the soldier as he realises he has lost his sight. In comparison, repetition of “Gas!” in
This is highlighted with "shut", "bleached" and "dark-clothed". The cleaver use of "shut shops", "sun blinds", "sovereigns", "kings and queens" compounds a critisasation of authority, Larkin does this through sibilance. Larkin then presents the loss in the next stanza with the repetition of the theme of innocence this is highlighted with the quotation "dresses", "never such innocence", "little" and "never such innocence again". This created a sense of destruction and how the war has taken the innocence of so many young people. Also the use off an oxymoron "restless silence" foreshadows the tragedy that is to come.
Duffy, as Mrs Lazarus, later explains the grief has led her to throwing up; “retched,” this shows that Mrs Lazarus has led herself to tormenting herself, as she is self harming and throwing up. At the end of the stanza Duffy repeats the word dead; “dead, dead,” this showing how bad her loss is, but also conveying that Mrs Lazarus is still shocked by the loss and is still not understanding it. At the beginning of the second stanza Duffy used short lines which are broken up by punctuation which makes the verse very disjointed; “Slept in a single cot” this also shows Mrs Lazarus has no body anymore and is therefore lonely, but also suggests she is like a baby in a cot who is hopeless. Duffy then puts emphasis on Mrs Lazarus grief and despair when she uses the word “widow,” followed by the word “half” suggesting that Mrs Lazarus is incomplete. We
In the short passage from "Shelter", Gagnon constructs a dark depressing ambiance with one paragraph. She used powerful emotive words, such as "abandoned, enraged, and betrayed" to establish a feeling of hopelessness. Short sentences and plain unembellished language create a sense of urgency and give us insight that the characters are not well educated and come from a lower class. The sentence, "(s)haken by a dry cough, he advanced bent over, as if hit in the stomach. "(paragraph 1 line 4-5) illustrates a written description of how the character struggles with his cough and ability to walk.