Elegy to and Unfortunate Lady
In Alexander Pope’s poem “Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady,” Pope uses a great amount of war-like imagery to enhance his vision of the suicide described. He creates allies and enemies, weapons and invasions, as well as the gruesome death that only seems to come from war. These pieces add to the overall meaning of the work and the vision of the event that has occurred, giving the reader an image of a battle occurring.
The first images of the war or battle are that of the victim of battle. Starting at line four and extending to line ten, I find that Pope is using a great amount of imagery to depict the woman’s wound and the fate upon which she has fallen. In line four he describes her wound in only three words “bleeding bosom gor’d,” but he then extends the depiction of her wound into how it was obtained. He describes the knife or the dagger that she must have used to kill herself with as a “sword”, which is something that would typically be found in battle rather than in the case of a suicide. He also brings in the theory of the ancient Roman justice system for not just war but any crime. It is much greater and braver to die by your own sword than by any other. She kills herself for the simple fact that in her eyes she must be punished for loving some one too much; however, her death is the start of the real war, between Pope and the society and family that abandoned her.
Pope sides with the ghost in the poem and criticizes her family and society for her death. In line thirty he states clearly his great dislike for the uncle who he labels as “Thou, mean deserter of thy brother’s blood!” This is an apparent line drawn between what Pope believed should have occurred and w...
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... else, at least through her father or uncle, but once she died, all of her titles, wealth, beauty and honor meant nothing. They are things that could not be carried with her in her death. The lines about her becoming a pile of dust also fit with the image of a soldier who has fallen in battle because she is a pile of dust, which “all the proud shall be”. Every proud soldier who dies what they believe in becomes a pile of dust just like the lady in the poem.
The war imagery in Pope’s poem helps define and clarify the point of view Pope has on the even that has occurred. It also gives Pope a poetic platform on which to condemn the opposite side. He uses the imagery to describe the victim of war, the way death and battle are in war, and the opposing sides of this war and why they are battling; creating a new view of the woman’s suicide and her as a soldier for love.
Vivid imagery is one way with which writers protest war. Crane uses imagery to glorify, and shortly thereafter demean and undercut war, through the use of imagery, by placing positive and negative images of war close to eachother. “Blazing flag of the regiment,” and “the great battle God,” are placed before “A field where a thousand corpses lie.” (A) These lines’ purposes are to put images into the reader’s head, of how great war may appear, and then displaying that there are too many casualties involved with it. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, a man is described dyin...
The Author throughout the story expresses a few main themes because he has been through war and had a negative experience with it. He tried to show you the negative aspects of it, and that there is no point of it. Throughout the book, by using expressions of the characters, he points about the gruesome psychological effects of war. Paul is very similar to the author since he too loathes the very existence of war, and sees no point of it. He even asks why there is war, and no one was able to give a proper answer to him. Because both of these people have experienced war, they unwillingly who it horrors compared whereas other who have never experienced was, glorify the moment.
Death has been widely portrayed in Art throughout the centuries, the most depicted death scene possibly being the death of Christ. Every death scene is not created equal, despite the fact that the works of Art focus on death. The feelings, symbolism, and themes that are conveyed by the scene are diverse. To see how varied the effect can be from different death scenes we can look at The Sortie made by the Garrison of Gibraltar by John Trumbull in 1789 and The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West in 1770. It’s interesting to see how these artists depicts their own view on death in these specific works, since in fact West acted as a teacher to Trumbull yet their styles differ dramatically.1, 2 Although both works of art put death at the center of the scene and take place during a War; with the aid of the Artists’ unique styles and directions, completely different interpretations are invoked in the viewers.
With further experiences, new insights may lead to furthering our thoughts on a specific poem we are writing. A poem comes out when the world is ready for it. Dulce ET Decorum Est is a great example of this thought. This poem was directed at a specific individual to expose the horror of war, and prove that it is not sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. The poet spends a lot of his time reflecting on the haunting image of a soldier dying from poisonous gas. In fact, it seems the poet can’t forget the image of this soldier gasping for breath. The speaker of this poem states this in line 15 through 16 “In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” The poet must’ve felt it necessary to release his thoughts on this dying man to the world in order to expose the world to the horror of war. This was around the time when television footage of wars did not occur. The kids signing up or being drafted to be soldiers had no idea that war would be this ugly. In fact, everyone seemed to be telling them Dulcem Et Decorum Est. As a result, I realized that the world was ready and needed this
The Poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” attempts to make war seem as repulsive as possible. The author’s goal is to discourage people from joining the war or any future conflicts by shattering the romantic image people have of the fighting. The setting of this poem helps
To summarize, Owen uses numerous literary techniques to illustrate his firsthand experience of World War One, and communicates his opinions with a distinguished use of metaphors, similes, personifications, themes, imagery and irony. Owen recognized that the high casualties and unnecessary deaths in World War One were all in fact a metaphor for all death in modern warfare; the well known ‘glory’ of dying for one’s country was simply a lie. Thanks to this, he was successful in making people realize that “The old lie: Dulce Et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori”, ‘It is sweet and right to die for one’s country’ is a terrible misunderstanding, and the poem it depicts an irony of death on the modern battlefield. No matter how noble the reasons may be, nothing but misery, heartbreak and agony can come from war.
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
Although a great deal of physical effects exist in Emeny’s work, the spiritual consequences of war serve as the most devastating ones. The will and spirit of those amidst the harshness of war diminishes because of the seriousness of war. Prior to the complexities of war, the “spirit flees gleefully to the clouds,” ( ) illustrating the freedom one expresses without repression. As soon as the “wire catches,” ( ) or the war commences, and intervenes with the lives of innocent bystanders, the innocence is lost. Furthermore, the hearts of the untainted human beings experience demolition due to the irrationality of war. Before the tragedy of war enters the picture, a heart “goes openly to the street,” ( ) showing the freedom that one possesses until the “wire snares,” ( ) and the sense of innocence disappears. Significantly, as a direct result of the entanglement of war, man’s mind suffers pain and misfortune. A man’s mind “grows in searching” ( ) preceding the brutality of war, exhibiting the ability of man to explore his surroundings without interference.
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” describes a soldier who witnesses the death of his comrade from poisonous gas. Using imagery and irony, Owen presents a blunt contrast between the propaganda practiced for recruitment and the truth behind the suffering endured by the soldiers. While presented in different formats, both literary works criticize the romanticism of war, arguing that there is no glory in the suffering and killing caused by conflict.
Also it is comparing the war to a game, which is a euphemism as well as a metaphor. It is a euphemism because war is a very serious, dangerous matter; whereas a game is something that people enjoy and never get seriously injured in. By using this euphemism, Jessie Pope - the poet – lessens the severity of war, and makes her readers’ think of it as enjoyable, and something that they want to do.
‘Poetry can challenge the reader to think about the world in new ways.’ It provokes the readers to consider events, issues and people with revised understanding and perspectives. The poems Dulce Et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen, 1917) and Suicide in the Trenches (Siegfried Sassoon, 1917), were composed during World War One and represented the poets’ point of views in regards to the glorification of war and encouraged readers to challenge their perspectives and reflect upon the real consequences behind the fabrications of the glory and pride of fighting for one’s nation.
Owen’s poem uses symbolism to bring home the harsh reality of war the speaker has experienced and forces the reader to think about the reality presented in romanticized poetry that treats war gently. He utilizes language that imparts the speakers experiences, as well as what he, his companions, and the dying man feels. People really die and suffer and live through nightmares during a war; Owen forcefully demonstrates this in “Dulce et Decorum Est”. He examines the horrific quality of World War I and transports the reader into the intense imagery of the emotion and experience of the speaker.
The simple definition of war is a state of armed competition, conflict, or hostility between different nations or groups; however war differs drastically in the eyes of naive children or experienced soldiers. Whether one is a young boy or a soldier, war is never as easy to understand as the definition. comprehend. There will inevitably be an event or circumstance where one is befuddled by the horror of war. For a young boy, it may occur when war first breaks out in his country, such as in “Song of Becoming.” Yet, in “Dulce et Decorum Est” it took a man dying in front of a soldier's face for the soldier to realize how awful war truly is. Both “Song of Becoming” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” are poems about people experiencing the monstrosity of war for the first time. One is told from the perspective of young boys who were stripped of their joyful innocence and forced to experience war first hand. The other is from the perspective of a soldier, reflecting on the death of one of his fellow soldiers and realizing that there is nothing he can do to save him. While “Song of Becoming” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” both focus on the theme of the loss of innocence, “Song of Becoming” illustrates how war affects the lives of young boys, whereas “Dulce et Decorum Est” depicts the affect on an experienced soldier.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.