A Coparison in the Ways Owen, Brooke and Sassoon Portray World War One in Their Poetry World War one took place between 1914 and 1918. Owen, Sassoon and Brooke were all poets and soldiers during the war. However, their poems had many similarities and differences, because of their different experiences. Owen and Sassoon actually fought in the war, whereas Brooke never made it into battle as he died on the boat from Malaria. The audience varies for the different poems. Owens's audience is people in the future generations who want to go to war. "You will not tell with such high zest" In this quote we can tell Owen is not pleased with another generation dying from ambition and propaganda. Equally Sassoon doesn't agree with war and writes his poem for people who haven't experienced war and the horror of living in the trenches. In contrast Brooke writes to men to men to encourage theme to enlist and join the war. "A pulse in the eternal mind" This suggests that Brooke believes the soldiers will always be remembered for fighting for England... Whereas Brooke has a patriotic and idealistic attitude, Sassoon and Owen have a stark hate towards war. "The old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mon" We can see very clearly from this how Owen feels towards war. He doesn't see the point of going over to another country and fighting for a piece of land. Equally Sassoon feels the same. However, Brooke feels very different about the state and attitude of war. "Under an English heaven" This tells us Brooke declares his love for England and suggests England shall win the war. He is very open in agreeing with ... ... middle of paper ... ...t, stark and delivers a message. "Suicide in the trenches" Once you've read the title you instantly know what Sassoon thinks by the words he uses. He suggests the horror of war in a sentence. In contrast to Sassoon's title, Brooke's is mysterious, and you can't really tell what he is about to talk about in his poem. In conclusion I have found Sassoon's poem, the most effective yet Owens poem, Dulce et Decurum est is more interesting. I presume, while reading Sassoon's poem; the soldier, your mind almost switches off, because he talks in an idealistic way. Owens poem gives us the most insight into the war, through describing details which were true and describing the true life for men which he had experienced. In talking about his own experience it gives us the impression he knows what he is talking about.
War I. The to poems that I will be comparing are ‘England to her sons’
Autobiographies, diaries, letters, official records, photographs and poems are examples of primary sources from World War One. The two primary sources analyzed in this essay are the poems, “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen and “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae. Primary sources are often personal, written from the limited perspective of a single individual. It is very difficult for the author to capture their own personal experience, while incorporating the involvement and effects of other events happening at the same time. Each piece of writing studied describes the author’s perception of the war. Both of the poems intend to show to grave reality of war, which often was not realized until the soldiers reach the frontlines. The poems were both written at battle within two years of each other. However, the stark difference between the two poems is astonishing. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” gives a much different impression than “In Flanders Field” despite the fact that both authors were in the same war and similar circumstances. The first two lines in “In Flanders Fields” “…the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row.” are an image o...
told he was out of action for six months. It was here that he first
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others. Ed. Candace Ward. Mineola, NY:Dover, 1997. 21-22.
World War One was a massive event. It affected millions of people from all walks of life, and inspired countless written pieces. Nevertheless, without being there, it is impossible to truly be able to tell what the war is like. Therefore the use of setting is very important in giving the reader an idea of the circumstance. This is not to say that everyone is in agreement over how the war should be displayed. Quite one the contrary, the two Poems “In Flanders Fields” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” use their settings to create two very contrasting images of human conflict.
The famous works written in 1917 by poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon cast aside the conventional inspiration for content, patriotism, and delve into the horrific journey that is war. Two poems in particular, Sassoon’s “Suicide in the Trenches” and Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, speak boldly against life in the trenches in efforts of evading the lies and illusions of a clean and righteous war. In doing so, readers are presented with tales that conjure up powerful and far-from-picturesque images that harbor the ability to shake the very core of a human through impactful language as crafted by these poets. While both poems allow the reader to come to the same conclusion that war is not clean, their approaches differ and therefore create a difference in weight of impact. Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is more impactful in that the gruesome imagery is more explicitly defined through dark, evoking diction, and the message of the poem is satirically approached through the strategic title to target a specific audience, while Siegfried Sassoon’s “Suicide in the Trenches” offers a similar message, but is presented in a fashion that relies on heavy contrast of tone to convey the resentful message.
Although the aftermath of World War I was devastating to many, it did bring the literature world some of the most important work of the modernist era. Many of the writers were directly or indirectly affected by the war and their writing certainly showed this. Each writer’s work shows a view of the war from a different perspective. However, what they most have in common is they way they paint the war in a negative light. T.S. Elliot writes his poem The Wasteland to show the after affects of the war on everyone while Sassoon write They to show the after affects on the soldier. In the essay, these writers and their poems will be discussed to show how they similarly reacted to the event of World War I in reference to the themes of their poems and how differently they use those themes.
‘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.
World War I impacted poetry profoundly. Poets who served in the war were using poetry to share their horrific stories about the hardships they faced. These poets became known as “war poets.” They wrote about the traumatic, life changing experiences that haunted them once the war was over. Intense poems started emerging that portrayed the mental and physical struggles soldiers faced. Two examples of the impact that World War I had on poetry is seen in the poems “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “Repression of War Experience” by Siegfried Sassoon.
When war first broke out in 1914 the general attitude towards it was patriotism. Many young men grabbed the chance to fight for their country and show the women their braveness, they thought they would come back heroes, however they did not know what happened beyond the cheerful and brave faces seen in the news papers and the blissful time the soldiers had in their letters home. This made many more men go to war. Things gradually changed, death, disease, mud, it had suddenly hit that to fight for your country was not such an honour.
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.
He may have used this technique to make war seem if it had made men
Consequently, Owen conveys so many deep emotions to the reader that it feels as if one is really in the battle. The reader would be overwhelmed with the detailed descriptions of the war and about its pain and destruction that it has caused. On the other hand, the reader would have felt that Brookes poem was shallow and bias.
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.
In a nutshell, Wifred Owen had succeeded in bringing the readers through an exciting journey back to time when World War I began. Being cosily staying in a peaceful world today, most of us may have difficulties in comprehending the cruelty and hardship that one been through in a war. Owen’s poems are like a ticket that sends us back in time that allowed us to watch the war with our naked eyes. Owen had done a good job by describing a lot of vivid images through his writings that can help the readers to connect them with the theme of anger and frustration of the people due to the devastation of the war.