A Comparison between Shakespeare's Agincourt Speech and Wilfred Owens Dulce Et Decorum Est

During this essay I am going to write about the many diverse ways in which conflict is presented in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Wilfred Owen’s Poetry of World War 1. I will be comparing the ways in which Macbeth and 3 poems written by Owen; Mental Cases, The Next War and Dulce Et Decorum Est, link with each other. Macbeth is a play written in 1606 by Shakespeare who wrote plays to entertain his audience. On the other hand, Owen was a soldier in World War 1 when he wrote famous poems; he wrote them to tell us about the tragedies of war and he expressed his thoughts and feelings about war and conflict. Owen’s poems are influenced by his own experiences of war.

In this essay you will notice the differences and similarities between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was written in nineteenth century by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written in the twentieth century by Wilfred Owen. The main similarity we have observed is that they both capture war time experiences. However, the poets’ present these events using their own style, and the effect is two completely different observations of war.

In conclusion, “Dulce et Decorum” by Wilfred Owen is a poem written with the clear purpose of destroying the heroic tradition by telling the truth about war. It doesn’t sugar coats the ugly reality of war, but describes in vivid disturbing details. Even if the poet died during the battles of the Great War, we can be very grateful that some of his works survived to tell the tale as it is. Not noble, regal nor godly, but

The following difference is the date that the poems were written. The Soldier was written at the start of the war, in 1914, before the ‘gas shells’ that were ‘dropping softly behind’ in Dulce et Decorum Est were first used in the Great War. The author, Rupert Brook, had not fought for very long in the trenches, and had not experienced shell-shock, unlike Wilfred Owen; hence the poem is very naïve. Wilfred Owen, on the other hand, had experienced the horrific things that his poem (Dulce et Decorum Est) describes, in real life. He also experienced shell shock, as well as

The writers of the poems “War is Kind” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” use not only imagery, but irony in their works. Specifically, in “War is Kind”, Stephen Crane states in stanza two, “Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom-- A field where a thousand corpses lie.” From this quote one can note the use of irony in the piece. Crane is comparing a soldier to a battle-god to display how people perceive war from the outside. One would not expect the kingdom of a battle-god to be a field filled with corpses. He uses these contrasting images to reveal to readers that war is not what is perceived by the general public. Many believed that war was glorious, but he uses this line to show the truth about war and what he experienced by incorporating the irony of the perception and reality of war. Wilfred Owen also uses irony in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” when he says that “someone still was yelling out and stumbling, and flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.” The title of this poem is “Dulce et decorum est”, meaning “It is sweet and right”. The title is contradicting to the horrific events that are demonstrated throughout the poem. He uses the poem to oppose the opinion that it was sweet and right to die for your country. The man in the poem did not die a glorious death that many believed the men serving in war

War can be seen in different ways. On one hand it can be seen as an amazing feat that brave, courageous soldiers fought for their beliefs and country. But on the other, it is a remorseful, callous slaughter. These two sides are perfectly expressed in the two poems: Sons of Britain, by William Watson, and Dulce Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen. Watson’s takes the approach that war is honourable and Owen’s takes the opposite.

Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est also created a specific tone in his poem as well. His poem takes on a completely different tone though. In his version of a war piece, Owen is showing us how war is bad and how much he feels that it is wrong, and how we won’t like the conclusion that results from them. This war poem, about the First World War, has a more negative look on the actions of war. An example of this tone can be seen in the first stanza. According to the Bloom’s Literary Reference Online, “The first stanza presents a scene saturated with misery.” (Dulce et Decorum Est) Throughout the entire piece Owen gives us the tone of misery, awful challenges, and death – all negative feelings. We can see in the last couple of lines of the poem how Owen really felt about war, “The old Lie, Dulce et Decorum est / Pro patria mori.” (27-28) This roughly translates to ‘it is sweet and right to die for your country.’ It is a wonderful thing that one could die for their country, the soldiers should be filled with honor to do so. But Wilfred Owen tells us

War is a horrible thing that can negatively change peoples lives forever. During world war one many poets wrote about the good and bad they saw in war. Rupert Brookes Had a very positive view on war. In his poem "The Soldier" he shows war as a great way to see the world and make new friends, when really its quite the opposite. Wilfred Owens portrays war as a thing not of glory but of death and suffering. His poem "Dulce et Decorum est" shows the terror of gas attacks and tries to convince the readers that it's really not worth dying for your country. This Essay will argue through the use of language features and quotes how we see big differences between views on war. Through two short poems we're shown that it's glorious and gracious to die for your country, and then that its all a trick to get more soldiers into the terrible trenches to try and turn the tide of the battle.

“Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, and “The Sorrow of Sarajevo” by Goran Simic, both examine the reality of war. Written in “The Sorrow of Sarajevo” depicts a civilian’s life in a warzone whereas “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is set in a soldier’s point of view in WW1. Despite both poems tackling the subject of war, they contrast in their choice of language, tone and pace, alongside both using literary techniques.

Wilfred Owen is not totally against war, but, as it says at the end of

Owen uses language, structure and imagery to present the realities of war in ‘Dulce et Decorum est’. Owen himself was an officer in the First World War and therefore speaks from experience. Owen airs his views through multiple poems he wrote throughout his time in war, all of his poems echo the same negative outlook on war which at the time was very unusual due to people like Jessie Pope supporting and encouraging war through poetry. Owen reveals the physical damage to the men in the war using spondees such as ‘blood-shod’, which give the impression of the men being dirty and un-clean due to the awful conditions of war.

The poem, “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, by Wilfred Owen was written in a time where war was seen as a romantic sacrifice, but the young soldiers sent to war did not find war itself to be a beautiful occasion. Having a son defend one’s country was a prideful thing. As a result, parents would rather have their son die in a war than to come back home with a broken leg. No one, but the young men in the war, recognized the horrific sacrifices and destructive experiences that arose because of the involvement in the war.

In this poem Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen the poet describes World War 1 to the readers. This gives them a little under standing about what it was really like. He stirs readers emotions by using similes ,vivid verbs and sounds to describe in detail what it was like in the front line he wanted to prove in this poem “Dulce et decorum est “ ( it is honorable to die for your country) that it is not it is a ugly and painful way to die. He wrote this in protest to Jessie popes poem “who’s for the game “. One of the technique’s that Owen liked to use was similes and metaphors.

Wilfred Owen was a soldier in World War One so he was able to include very graphic descriptions of the war in all his poems, which is why the imagery in Dulce Et Decorum Est is so strong and shocking. Dulce Et Decorum Est is a thought-provoking poem which tells the experiences of soldiers in the trenches during World War One. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen conveys his idea that war is abominable, traumatic, and horrific through detailed imagery, phonological devices, and extended metaphors.

“Dulce et Decorum” by author Wilfred Owen was a poem about anti-war, the setting of the poem takes place on the battlefield during World War One. Through his use of imagery, and tone, the author obviously shows the theme of death and warfare.