Dulce Et Decorum Est And Anthem For Doomed Youth

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A comparison of poems by Wilfred Owen “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth” Wilfred Owen fought in the ww1. He enrolled into army at an early age which was probably influenced by the government’s enticing and false advertising. However in the trenches Owen soon discovered the reality of war and how horrific the war was. At first he started to take notes about the conditions. Then later in a military hospital he edited and turned these notes into poetry.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” is a Latin saying widely used and understood, often at the beginning of ww1. The full title is “Dulce et Decorum EST Pro Patria Mori”; it’s sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and high honour to fight and die for your country. “Dulce et Decorum Est”, this line is repeated at the end and by repeating this line at the beginning and at the end makes it memorable. This line needs to be repeated and remembered because the poem is based on “the old lie”; mocking the government at the time. This line is both irony and sarcastic as Owen has witnessed a gas attack and a man “drowning under a green sea” and came to the conclusion that dying out there was just a waste of life and completely futile. In my opinion the purpose of this poem was to make the public back home become aware of how barbaric was is.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” the poem is easy to visualise because Owens mood is sharp, blunt and raw which creates a realistic and believable account of the scene. Many different moods are used in different stanzas of the poem. The first stanza feels depressing as the soldiers are described as almost asleep “men marched asleep”. Stanza two is where the action happens so the atmosphere is very energetic. The final stanza...

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...very good examples of the worse things that war has and the conclusion of neither of these very detailed poems could get any better. They both reflect the realities of war. Owen is very bias toward the futility of war. This very strong tone and his ideas towards this theme can be seen not just in these two poems but all of his poems. I must also say that we don’t know for certain if what Owen wrote in these poems was 100% true? But I can say that it was very well explained. The conclusion in “Dulce EST decorum Est” reflect the ideas that he had towards the reality of war
In conclusion these poems made me sympathise with Owen and made me think of what war really means. Eventually I will say that, in my opinion the two poems both reflect on the cruel realities of war and is written in simple sentences so that you quickly understand what Owen is felling in the poems.

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