‘Who’s for the Game?’
and
‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
Q: Compare the attitudes to the war and its presentation in the 2 poems ‘Who’s For The Game?’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. Include an analysis of the language used and its structure.
In the two poems ‘Who’s For the Game?’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, there are many fundamental differences which set the two poems in two different places in a reader’s mind – the way they interpret the poem. I will be explaining how these essential differences make the reader ponder in different ways.
The first difference is that both poems were written by the opposite gender, which to me is a fundamental difference because it shows how they think about the war – ‘Who’s For the Game?’ was written by a female (Jessie Pope) and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written by a male (Wilfred Owen). Along with this major difference, Jessie Pope was a woman who had no part in the war, except for helping in creating propaganda posters and preaching propaganda throughout her country. However, Wilfred Owen was a soldier in World War I, which helped him create his poem as he was able to hark Jessie Pope’s poem and all the propaganda about the war; he was able to show the people of England the true horrors of the war, whereas Jessie Pope created her poem as if she were writing about a game, as if the war were a game, with no first-eye experience, no hand-eye witness of what actually happens in the war.
Next, I will be exploring the two titles and how they are reflected in the poem. In the first poem ‘Who’s For the Game?’ the title is a kind of rhetorical question, wherein the poet Jessie Pope asks her readers ‘who is going to fight for their country?’, ‘who is going to die for their country?’ and ‘who is goi...
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...show her how it really was, with all the gruelling details.
Jessie Pope’s language is very much colloquial and as before mentioned, very informal, and this was mainly because it wasn’t addressing the older men to join, but it convinced younger boys to as well. This adds to the propaganda theme and this sort of language is throughout the poem, which makes me understand even more why Owen had to hark Pope and all the pro-propagandists in the world, because it does very much show how these people treated the war – they thought of it as a game where you win some you lose some, but they didn’t realise that this wasn’t a game and real people with families, their lives were at risk and unfortunately they paid for their mistakes.
Wilfred was very much against the war, as can be shown in his poem because he uses his language to show the reader that the war is not a gam
The imagery and figurative language in “Dulce et Decorum Est” highlights the suffering of the soldiers, contradicting any notion of romanticized war. Owen uses the simile “like old beggars” (1) to describe the soldiers, which is ironic in that most of the soldiers in World War I were young men. This irony emphasizes how war has changed the soldiers for the worse; they seem “old” and bedraggled, unrecognizable in comparison to their old selves. In addition, the soldiers are “deaf even to the...Five-Nines that dropped behind” (7-8). Owen conveys the soldiers’ exhaustion to be extreme enough that they take no notice of the bombs falling around them, as if they are a
Comparing Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est and Crane's Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind
Irony of War Exposed in Dulce et Decorum, Regeneration, and Quiet on the Western Front
As seen in both poems, ‘Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ Owen brings the audience into the his world, making them feel and think like him, knowing what he has experienced and what he dreads, and therefore successfully involves the reader into the world of poetry.
The poems also have many contrasts. Owen speaks of a first-hand experience whilst Duffy speaks of the events which her photographer friends witnessed. Owen also addresses the reader to highlight how little glory there is in war but Duffy, in ‘War Photographer’, does not refer to the reader, keeping her style of writing in third person. Duffy also refers to several countries whereas Owen, who died at the end of the First World War, only refers to the one he has witnessed. Duffy also criticises her fellow countrymen, saying they are unaffected. ‘War Photographer’ is much calmer in tone than ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, which is very shocking for the reader.
Ultimately, we have two poems which can be compared on the grounds of their subject, but are poles apart regarding their message. The structure of these poems is not what would be typically expected from a war poem, but are structured on the basis of these typical structures in order to create some sense of familiarity. Brooke’s poem expands on this familiarity while Owen attempts to deliberately sabotage it. In regards to content, Brooke shows throughout his perception of the nobility of dying for one’s country, whilst Owen uses all of his poetic techniques to show the opposite.
I have chosen this poem because this is his most famous poem, 'Dulce et Decorum est' is an example of a poem written through his own eyes, based on his own experiences and views of the war. He uses surreal and graphic imagery to give the reader the exact feeling that he wanted. He emphasises his point, showing that war is terrible and devastating. This poem conveys a strong meaning and persuasive argument. This poem uses four stanzas and an alternate rhyming line scheme.
In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ gives us the complete opposite. It takes away the lie that describes the war as a place of pleasure and vividness. When in reality it is a...
Another tool in developing the effectiveness of the poem is the excellent use of diction. The word "blood-shod" explains how the troops have been on their feet for days without rest. Also, words like "guttering", "choking", and "drowning" shows us that the troops are suffering in extreme pain and misery. If you haven't noticed, most of these words are examples of cacophony, which are words with harsh and discordant sounds. As this poem is about how harsh and terrible war is, Owen's use of cacophony is very effective in generating the tone of the poem.
World War One had an inevitable effect on the lives of many young and naive individuals, including Wilfred Owen, who, like many others, joined the military effort with the belief that he would find honour, wealth and adventure. The optimism which Owen initially had toward the conflict is emphasised in the excerpt, in which he is described as “a young poet…with a romantic view of war common among the young” (narrator), a view which rapidly changed upon reaching the front. Owen presents responders with an overwhelming exploration of human cruelty on other individuals through acts of war and the clash of individual’s opposed feelings influenced by the experiences of human cruelty. This is presented through the horrific nature of war which the
Wilfred Owen emphasises the condition of the men in order to show the reader the effect that the war had on the soldiers. He often compares the young soldiers to elderly people:
The words Owen chooses to use in the poem describing the soldiers are peculiar choices. The speaker refers to them as “[b]ent double, like beggars in sacks” (line 1), very different from a typical idea of a soldier. From the beginni...
The similes and metaphors used by Owen illustrate very negative war scenes throughout the poem, depicting extreme suffering of young men fighting during World War I. The first simile used by Owen describes the soldiers as “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, giving them sickly, wounded, and exhausted attributes from battle and lack of rest (1). Next, the soldiers are described as “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags”, which once again portrays these young men as sick...
In the thick of a war Owens wants the reader to know that these young men are giving their lives, for nothing that is worth dying over. He showed though out both of these poems that war is grim and pointless. Although Owens thought war was not worth the ultimate sacrifice of death, he still fought in World War I. He did so because so many men his age were pushed to fight in the war. Owens eventually died in the war one week before the war ended, he ended up living the old lie “Dulce et decorum est /Pro patria mori” (27-28).
The poetic techniques used in Wilfred Owen’s war poetry sweep the reader from the surface of knowing to the essence of truly appreciating his ideas. Through sonnets, Para rhymes, ironic titles, voices and strong imagery, not only is the reader able to comprehend to the futility and the horrors of the Great War, but also they can almost physically and mentally empathise with those who fought. Through the three poems examined, it is evident that Owen goes to great effort to describe the conditions and thoughts of the First World War, thus his works are considered an invaluable asset to the modern literature.