Attitude Towards War in The Soldier and Anthem for Doomed Youth

It is known that the First World War was one of the most lethal conflicts in history. Attack a poem written by S. Sasson and Anthem for Doomed youth written by W. Owen are both poems that touch on the sensitive topic that is the War and its hidden veracities that manifests in various forms. Not only were both of the writers inspired by the same matter, but they were in fact, friends. This is very important because similarities are established within the two poems, as one inspired the other as a form of therapy from the consequences of the war on mental health. The writers through their talent uniquely incorporate their viewpoints and personal experiences that is ultimately projected onto their poems, whilst still maintaining a level of resemblance from one another.

Wilfred Owen‘s poetry significantly conveys his perspectives on human conflict through his encounters amid the The Great War. Poems such as The Next War and Dulce et Decorum Est. Owen’s poetry is a representation of the conditions soldiers faced within the times of World War I, from 1914 to 1918. These poems depict these perceptions through the use of poetic techniques and features, to communicate serve as a commentary on the human condition as experienced by Wilfred Owen in relation to the violence of war during World War I. There is a distinguished shift from a romantic view of war to a disenchanted, distorted and disillusioned broken man. This is due to his experiences in the war, emphasising on such conflicts, involving, war and disaster,

In this poem Owen's use of strong diction and vivid figurative language such as; "In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning", provides an indication of the horror endured by these soldiers, and also emphasises the ironic anti-war message that he is trying to convey: 'How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country.' This message was exactly the kind of patriotic love promoted by Jessie Pope and other pro-war poets of the time. The central conflict of the poem is the futility of war and the dehumanisation of men. Stanza one is written in the past tense, and is laced with metaphors and similes, such as: "like old beggars under sacks", "Men marched asleep" and "Drunk with fatigue".

Wilfred Owen can be considered as one of the finest war poets of all times. His war poems, a collection of works composed between January 1917, when he was first sent to the Western Front, and November 1918, when he was killed in action, use a variety of poetic techniques to allow the reader to empathise with his world, situation, emotions and thoughts. The sonnet form, para-rhymes, ironic titles, voice, and various imagery used by Owen grasp the prominent central idea of the complete futility of war as well as explore underlying themes such as the massive waste of young lives, the horrors of war, the hopelessness of war and the loss of religion. These can be seen in the three poems, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and

The poem deals with the cold reality of war, written by a soldier’s first-hand experience on the Western Front, which deviated from other WW1 poets like Jessie

Wilfred Owen, through his poems, challenges our thoughts and perspectives on war in order to show the true effects and to stop the glorification it receives in society. Owen does this in both poems Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum Est as he contrasts societies views and depictions of war from societies views as a result propaganda and the harsh reality as a result of Owens personal experiences. Owen also demonstrates the true effects of war by showing the treatment of the dead soldiers and the lack of respect which they receive by contrasting the funerals the soldiers received to civilian ones. From both poems we gather the understanding of Owens negative perspective towards human conflict and his purpose which is to show us the true and unglorified reality of

War is deadly, the marks left for the time spent there will stay with you forever; either in the sense of mortality seen or mental and physical attributes given. The experience kills a little part of you each time, even if it is for a patriotic cause, which reflects the thoughts of the nation. Wilfred Owen, which at the time was, set in the mentality that he should fight for his country because of honor and the glory it would bring. Therefore, we can infer, he felt regret and sorrow for the missed opportunities compared to if he had known the truth about the war. Owen, a war hero and poet, put forth his own experiences in war, of which he didn’t have much understanding of, in hopes to allow others to not make that same mistake. Furthermore,

Accordingly, the experiences of these soldiers are cast as embodying in microcosm the wider war. In capturing a corner of a foreign field, it seems that Brooke’s soldier has some kind of ability in death—even on his own as an individual—to claim land for his country, claiming land after all the overwhelming point of any war. Instead of compelling armies or battles, the death of this one soldier can symbolically advance the English cause, can emblematically transform the ownership of the land. As for his representational nature, throughout the rest of the poem we see repeated evocations of England—five times in just fourteen lines—and, what is more, a concerted attempt to locate England inside the soldier: “A dust whom England bore” (5), “A body of England’s, breathing English air” (7), “the thoughts by England given” (11), and the poem’s closing lines, “And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, / In hearts at peace, under an English

After doing several hours of preliminary research, I am going to write my paper on the World War I poets and how their poetry reflects their disillusionment of the war. As of right now, I plan to focus my research paper on Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen. Initially, when researching World War I poets, I was very intrigued by the utilization of rhetoric and nationalist propaganda to encourage the old romantic ideas of duty, valor, and courage from the public. However, I noticed the required readings for class displayed the unpleasant accounts of war that those who did not serve in the war were completely oblivious about. Therefore, I will begin my paper by briefly discussing the poets’ lives and their attitudes regarding the war prior to actually serving. I will find evidence of their attitudes prior to war in some of their literary works. Then, the main focus of my paper will be how the World War I poets display their disillusionment of war throughout their literary works and how their attitudes shifted once they served in the war.

These two poems, although different in many ways, allow the reader to glimpse the uneasy attitude of war and dying for one’s country. What had once seemed like a dream to many now was a “dream deferred” or a nightmare.

Wilfred Owen, as one of the many young men who join the military during World War I, has his own misconceptions of war, but it does not take him long to realize what war is all about. Owen’s position quickly becomes an anti-war because of his personal experiences and observations during the Great War. Owen uses poetry to inform the public that war is not just about patriotism, gallantry, and glory but also about atrocity, cruelty, and destruction. Through his poetry, Owen critiques government officials, religious authorities and public figures, for glorifying the war and sending naïve young men to death and destruction. Examples of Owen’s anti-war sentiment and criticism of the public’s ignorance regarding war can be found in his poem,

An idea that is getting explored is that these men who are dying were not always soldiers they were once farmers and many other things this is shown in the line ‘At home, whispering of fields half-sown.’ These men who are dying are only here because there king ordered them while the trained soldiers who were in the army prior to ww1 were often in command tents far from the front lines. It also shows the ideas of suffering with the mention of limbs not working and bodies still war but unmoved. This is what the poem is focused on him and a group of soldiers in ww1 standing over the body of their dead friend contemplating about his death and the loss of potential.

The first aspect of the poem that caught my attention was how reflective and nostalgic the soldier portrayed himself. One prime example of this occurring is when the soldier states, “Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;” (12). Here, he is referring to how much pleasure he had in the presence of his homeland, and his desire to go back. Additionally, it is evident that the soldier is longing to return home when

Poems using strong poetic technique and devices are able to create a wide range of emotions from the readers. Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively uses these poetic techniques and devices to not only create unsettling images about war but to provide his opinion about war itself with the use of themes within his poem. The use of these themes explored Owen’s ideas on the futility of war and can be seen in the poems: Anthem for Doomed Youth, Futility and The Next War. The poems provide unsettling images and belief of war through the treatment of death, barbaric nature of war and the futility of war.

“The Soldier” is a poem about a generic, yet ideal soldier, which is indicated by Rupert Brooke’s use of the word “The” instead of “A” when describing the soldier in the title. The usage of “I” and “me” in the poem suggests a first person point of view, which makes the poem more personal and realistic to the reader. This poem is a sonnet because the first stanza contains eight lines and the second stanza contains six. Throughout “The Soldier,” the repetition of “English” and “England” shows how important his homeland is to the soldier and his high level of patriotism. In line five, England is personified, and although England is not a living thing, the soldier sees his country as his creator and as a sort of mother figure. Brooke’s use of alliteration throughout the poem helps it flow; the use of caesura breaks up the lines. Perfect external rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter are used throughout the poem, which both give the poem flow and rhythm. The “dust” in lines four and five is a metaphor for the soldier’s life; England created him and he will become “dust concealed” when he dies and is buried. The first stanza of “The Soldier” uses various lines of imagery: “some corner of a foreign field… In that rich earth a richer dust concealed… flowers… Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.” These forms of imagery emphasize the soldier’s death and how his death will cleanse him of any wrongdoings he had done in his time on earth. The “rivers” and “suns” are personified as