Dulce Et Decorum Est By Jessie Pope Analysis

Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front has a central theme of the harsh realities of war and a general negative attitude toward the subject. This attitude is synonymous of other war poems such as Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and War Is Kind by Stephen Crane; however, the attitudes are revealed differently in all three pieces through each respective author’s use of diction, imagery, and tone.

Pope uses imagery such as metaphors and repetition to convince her readers to conscribe to the army. When she questions her readers whether they are prepared to play in the ‘red crashing game’ she refers to war as a game, which shows that war is an exciting possibility and implies that war is an adventure and has competitive elements that the ‘players’ can benefit from, the emphasizes of sports imagery throughout the poem, implies that the competition will be a fin and interesting game. She therefore undermines its seriousness. Furthermore, the use of personification in the last two lines make men feel guilt if they don’t go to the rescue of a female distress. On Dulce et Decorum Est Owen uses simile and metaphors to respond to what Pope was initially writing, the metaphor “drunk with fatigue” describes men as being drunk because of the way the looked, their lack of sleep and because they always felt inattentive and with no sense of orientation. Additionally Owen uses words in 1st person such as “I” “my” and “me” this shows that the writer is telling as story, helping the reader understand the severe effect of the war in the

Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” is a poem made of four stanzas in an a, b, a, b rhyme scheme. There is hardly any rhythm to the entire poem, although Owen makes it sound like it is in iambic pentameter in some lines. Every stanza has a different amount of lines, ranging from two to twelve. To convey the poem’s purpose, Owen uses an unconventional poem style and horrid, graphic images of the frontlines to convey the unbearable circumstances that many young soldiers went through in World War I. Not only did these men have to partake in such painful duties, but these duties contrasted with the view of the war made by the populace of the mainland country. Many of these people are pro-war and would never see the battlefield themselves. Owen’s use of word choice, imagery, metaphors, exaggeration, and the contrast between the young, war-deteriorated soldiers and populace’s favorable view of war creates Owen’s own unfavorable view of the war to readers.

History itself has taught students that the First World War was the most devastating war the world has ever seen in a sense of ideals, morals, and social aspects thanks to many of the war poets during that time period. Wilfred Owen is known to be one of the most famous war poets during the twentieth century especially during the First World War when he wrote “Dulce et Decorum Est”. His poem details the horrors these soldiers faced in the trenches during World War 1 and conveys the hidden meaning that “it is sweet and honorable” to die for one’s country is untrue. Owen is able to deliver his message and express his ideas against this cruel war with the use of many literary techniques.

By dictionary definition, war is a state of armed conflict between societies generally characterized by extreme aggression, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces. For centuries, war has been used to resolve conflict, but it also has been used to create chaos. In the 70's for example, there was a big revolution against the Vietnam war. As a result of this "double standard" many individuals have multiple opinions about war and its purposes. In the two pieces "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen and "Who's for the Game?" by Jesse Pope, each poet emulates war in various points of views to produces different effects on their readers.

The poems I have chosen to compare in this essay are Wilfred Owen's “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and Jessie Pope's “Who's For The Game?”. The two poems I have chosen to compare are both about the first world war. Yet the two poems have very different opinions on the Great War. My first poem, Dulce et decorum, is against the war and the injustice of it all. It is narrated by one of the soldiers who is fighting in the Great War and having to face the horrors of war. On the contrary my second poem, Who's for the game, is a recruitment poem.

During World War I, a collection of poems were written by soldiers serving in the war. The poems include If I Should Die by Rupert Brooke, In Flanders Fields by John MacRae, Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, and On Passing the New Menin Gate by Siegfried Sassoon. The poetry differs in opinion on the war and dying for one’s country from soldier to soldier, with If I Should Die and In Flanders Fields romanticizing heroic death and glory, and Dulce Et Decorum Est and On Passing the New Menin Gate showcasing the gritty truth of war and the feelings of the soldiers who experience it.

The poems “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “Who’s for the Game?” by Jessie Pope are direct antitheses of each other, such that their views about war, the chosen literary schemes, and the effects on the readers are exact opposites in each view. “Who’s for the Game?” is a strong pro-war poem with a simplistic rhyme scheme, basic meaning, shallow imagery, and is intended to provoke and challenge young men into joining the war. Conversely, “Dulce et Decorum Est” is an anti-war poem with a relatively more complicated rhyme scheme, complex meaning, deep imagery, and is intended to discourage those who write such propaganda as “Who’s for the Game?”.

In Dulce Et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen makes war seem horrific. When describing the soldiers, he says ‘Coughing like old

Wilfred Owen’s porter vividly depicts the horror and futility of war and the detrimental impact of war upon the soldiers. Owen’s poem, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, written in 1917 depicts the horror of war as the physical and mental damages on the solders. Most importantly, the context of the poem subverts its title. In his other poem, ‘Futility’ written in 1918, conveys war as fatal and that war is pure wastage of human lives.

In Dulce et Decorum Est… Wilfred Owen informs the reader of the physical and emotional torment soldiers go through during and after war. In the opening verse Owen describes the soldiers physical health as they sluggishly make their way through the muddy terrain. Owen makes effective use of similes in lines 1 and 2.

The popular view of war at the time is reflected in Jesse Pope’s poem ‘Who’s for the Game?’ The strong patriotic views favoured during World War 1 are portrayed in this poem. Jesse Pope was an admired propagandist. She wrote dynamic poems and stories to entrap people into the belief that signing up for the ‘Great’ War was an honour, and a ‘manly’ thing to do. In her well-received poem ‘Who’s for the Game?’ she uses rhetorical questions to make men question why

The start of World War I did not seem as if it would result in much horror, especially to civilians residing in the United States. Recruiting soldiers through false propaganda was simple because young men often seeking glory and praise, which often was advertised as a result of coming back with victory. It was a simple stair step to glory. Wilfred Owen, the author of antiwar poem, “Dulce ET Decorum Est.,” reveals his furious and disgusted attitude towards war and its false glory by using gruesome figurative language and imagery.

War Poetry Comparative Essay The saying dulce et decorum est pro patria mori comes from the roman poet Horace in Ode III.2.13, it translates back to how sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country. When ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was first written in 1917, it was directed at the poet Jessie Pope, then the dedication changed to ‘a certain poetess’. However, this dedication was never published as Wilfred Owen wanted the poem to reach everyone and not just Pope. Pope was a famous WW1 poet best known for her pro war, motivational poems, her most famous being ‘Who’s for the Game’. The themes in ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ (DEDE) are war, death and patriotism.

The saying, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,” was once believed; it means that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. Because Wilfred Owen knew the horrors, he opposes this saying in his poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” The narrator provides vivid images of his experience in WWI which includes both the exhaustion the soldiers endured while walking to their next resting point and of the death of a fellow soldier due to gas. His PTSD shows us that the gas experience continues to haunt him: “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning,” (ll.15-16). The narrator also explains why young men should reconsider joining a war if given the opportunity; it is not worth the horror. The war leaves, “incurable sores on innocent tongues,” (l.24), due to the overbearing evils war brings, leaving soldiers faces’, “like a devil’s sick of sin,” (l.20). Ironically, war is too much sin for the devil. The narrator emphasizes the vulgarity of a war, “Obscene as cancer, bitter as cud,” (l.23). Owen ultimately maintains that it is not glorious dying for one’s country because of the many horrors.