Dulce Et Decorum Est And Suicide In The Trenches

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.

War is a subject that often stirs upon many emotions with those directly or indirectly involved. It may bring tears, memories of suffering and loneliness, struggles, or victories. Such disturbance of peace has wounded and killed many souls. It is on the battlefield we see the most hideous side of human nature, for every soldier's only objective on the battlefield is to survive and win. Many people have opposing views about wars which may have been developed over time based on many factors such as family upbringing, culture, political views, or personal experiences. In the two poems studied, Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum est" and Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade", war has been described with completely opposing

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Like movies, novels and music, poems are texts that people use to reflect on their lives and experiences. Poems can have an impact on people’s thinking, not only through the things they might say to their readers, but through the discussions that readers have with each other about poems. I truly agree with this statement and believe that it accurately describes how people can reflect on their lives after reading poems. I chose the genre of war poetry, as it is one of the most successful, it captivates the reader, with either glorious and courageous events or tragedy and loss resulting from war. Today I will be comparing two poems, both relating to war but from different time periods; they are ‘Beach Burial’, by Kenneth Slessor, written In 1944 during the Modern Era, and ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson written in 1854 during the Victorian Era.

A poem which I have recently read is: “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen. The main point Wilfred Owen tries to convey in this poem is the sheer horror of war. Owen uses many techniques to show his feelings, some of which I’ll be exploring.

Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson are two poems that evaluate and analyze war. Many people who have served in war turn to literature as an outlet for their experiences, but people who have never fought often write about it as well. These two poems are a great example of the differences in connotations of war due to level of interaction with it. However, despite distinct variations in attitudes and messages, the use of figurative language and the theme of war provide similarities among the two.

Thousands of young Europeans went to serve their country (draft) during the first world war and were met with death and destruction. In addition to having to witness comrades and friends being killed, they had to kill others which will undoubtedly change someone. It takes away your innocence to have to do and see things such as this. For those that survived these images haunted them for the rest of their lives changing their outlook on life and general disposition. Which such a large percent of the population having had such damaging effects it takes a toll on the entirety of Europe. Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet who fought during WWI, recounts his experience and the damaging effects of war. In Sassoon’s Suicide in the Trenches he writes about the effects of the war on the soldiers and the disillusionment people at home had about war. The first stanza of the poem has as cheerful tone. Sassoon writes “I knew a simple soldier boy,” choosing to use the word “boy” instead of man to put an emphasis on how young and youthful these soldiers were. There is a sharp change of tone between the first and second stanza in which Sassoon talks of the hardships of the trenches and has a an emphasis on winter. The boy who was spoken about in the first stanza as

“In his poetry, Wilfred Owen depicts the horror and futility of war and the impact war has on individuals.”

War is a scandalous topic where peoples’ views differ as to what war is. Some people see it as pure evil and wicked while others think that it is brave and noble of what soldiers do. Looking at poems which had been written by people affected by war help show the messages which are portrayed. The two sets of poems which show different views of war as well as some similarities are “the Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, “The Song of the Mud” by Mary Borden. Both these poets use linguistic devices to convince the reader of their view of what the war is. Tennyson and Lovelace show how war is worthy

Wilfred Owen is almost begging someone (probably the ones who recruit the youth) to tell the world the truth about war, how tarrying everyone is and how difficult is to go on, to keep the hope. For the soldiers there are no dreams of a noble death that everyone will remember through stories. There are no legends that will become myth in their fighting, but real people and real horrific death. The concept of “heroism” that exists from classical literature is not longer valid.

Wilfred Owens poem “Dulce et Decorum est” and Bruce Dawe’s poem “Homecoming” are poems from different wars, however both highlight the indignity of war. Owen’s poem is broken up into three sections, where he expresses the torture soldiers suffer

Literature and poetry are a reflection of society. The words are reflected in numerous feelings that we can almost touch and can be deeply felt in its reach. Most poets expressed their perception and emotion through their writings. Unfortunately the art and poetry describes one of the worst things that human can do to one another. The legalized murder called "war." Hence, this type of self-reflection called "poetry" has help create new fundamental ideas and values towards our society. In this essay, I will discuss the issue of the "War Poetry" during the "Great War" along with comparing and contrasting two talented renowned poets; Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) and Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967).

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 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

Throughout Wilfred Owen’s collection of poems, he unmasks the harsh tragedy of war through the events he experienced. His poems indulge and grasp readers to feel the pain of his words and develop some idea on the tragedy during the war. Tragedy was a common feature during the war, as innocent boys and men had their lives taken away from them in a gunshot. The sad truth of the war that most of the people who experienced and lived during the tragic time, still bare the horrifying images that still live with them now. Owen’s poems give the reader insight to this pain, and help unmask the tragedy of war.

Amongst the different genres of poetry that we can find, war poetry has been one which proved to generate great interest from people around the world. The idea of war is in itself very terrible and any individual can confidently say that no one would want to face the horrors of it. However, it was not presented in this manner prior and during the build-up to World War I. It was common to find that many people were sugar coating war with the idea of pride yet they were not discussing the dreadful experiences on the battle fields. This is why poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon emerged; to react against the propaganda that the people were bombarded with. In this essay, I shall be discussing Wilfred Owen’s and Siegfried Sassoon’s