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Critical Appreciation Of Wilfred Owen Poetry

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Wilfred Owen was born 18 March 1893 and died on November 4th 1918 at the young age of 25. Owen was an english poet and soldier who was a recognised leader throughout the first world war. Owen’s war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was largely influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon who passed away 1st September 1967. Owen’s most famous poems include Dulce Et Decorum Est, Anthem For Doomed Youth, Futility, Strange Meeting, The Next War and Insensibility.

Owen poetry focuses deeply on the extraordinary experiences faced by all those involved in war, not just those soldiers fighting on the battlefront. The intention of Owen’s poems was the reveal the truth about war and how propaganda was not always the best influence for young, innocent men who believed that war was essential to be a real man. Owen’s truthfulness is highlighted significantly in the poems Dulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem For Doomed Youth.

Dulce Et Decorum Est is a poem written by Wilfred Owen following his experience fighting in the trenches of World War 1. The title ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and pro patria mori refers to a line from Roman lyrical poet Horace's Odes. These lines are expressed in the last stanza of Owen’s poem, meaning it is ‘sweet and honourable to die for your own country’. Owen reveals before this statement that it’s ‘The old lie’ as he disagrees with the meaning of this phrase. Owen witnessed first hand the effects on the lives of those involved in war. Not only

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