Wilfred Owen's Poems And Dulce Et Decorum Est

The poets studied this year have explored a variety of different themes throughout their poetry, using a number of techniques to accentuate these ideas. The issues that are addressed evoke the emotions of anger, awe and distress in the reader. W.H Auden’s poem ‘Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone’ explores muted anger throughout as the speaker grieves the death of a loved one. Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s poems of and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ express anger in his response to Jessie Pope’s poem, ‘The Call’. Alternatively, William Shakespeare and Pablo Neruda both explore their awe of a loved one where as Bruce Dawe and Wilfred Owen convey their distress by explaining the deaths of soldiers at war. The techniques of metaphors, commands, setting

Owen’s poem encompasses the horrific deaths of the soldiers as they are slaughtered and “die as cattle.” They do not receive a funeral, which they are entitled too and this creates a sense of distress amongst their families. He employs the contrast of regular funerals and the deaths that occur at war, demonstrating differences in how the bodies are treated when killed in masses, versus the celebration of ones life at home. Alliteration and onomatopoeia are used to explain the “stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle” which provide noise that replaces the bells that sound at funerals. Similarly, Dawe explains the sound of the jet planes to be “whining like hounds” which is the soldier’s alternative to funeral music. The realisation that war doesn’t discriminate and that it takes everyone, including “curly-heads, kinky-hairs, and crew-cuts…” is expressed throughout. Distress surrounds their loved ones, as their “patient minds,” await the dreaded reality. This is followed by the symbolic mention of the “drawing- down of blinds,” which occurs when there is a death in the family. Homecoming explores the distress and grief, which surrounds the families, when the “telegrams tremble” and the deceased bodies return. The techniques used in both poems help to explore and highlight the concern and distress that the families