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The Song Of The Md Poem Analysis

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Throughout history, people of different backgrounds have perceived the act of going to war differently, and it was often reflected in literature in the form of poetry. Some poets, such as Richard Lovelace and Alfred Lord Tennyson, glorified and honored sacrifice; in contrast, others like Mary Borden and Wilfred Owen, condemned war and viewed it as a waste of life. The two poetry collections, while both discuss the effect of going to war, have very distinct central themes. The difference can be depicted mainly through each poet’s tone and diction, in addition to sound elements and the point-of-view. While each element contributes to engaging and/or persuading the reader, an analysis of those elements, and research on the history of each era, must be done in order to properly define the motives and purpose of each work of literature.

The first collection of …show more content…

In “The Song of the Mud,” Borden uses ironic diction in descriptive lines, such as: “The pale yellow glistening mud that covers the hills like satin” While the focus of the poem is exposing the mud as an active player in the Battle of the Somme, in addition to being the “disguise of the war zone,” most lines throughout the poem compare the obvious appearance of the mud to the “impertinent, intrusive, ubiquitous…obscene, filthy, putrid” effect it has on the machines, corpses, and most importantly the soldiers. Similarly, in “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Owen uses realism to illustrate the dreadful experience of being forced to fight in war, highlighting the vicious effect of the gas on a comrade in a dream sequence: “Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud / Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues.” The tone deduced from these lines is repugnant and blaming. Finally, Owen resolves to accusing war of being wasteful, stating that dying for one’s country is not sweet or honorable: “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria

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