Analysis Of The Last Laugh Poem

The title meaning 'It is sweet and becoming to die for one's country' is used satirically because the poem describes the horror and agony that the soldiers endured during their time in the trenches. The title is used in contrast with the first line. It is a shocking description of once young and healthy boys. 'Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knocked-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge.' This line shows the reader that the men are so tired and worn out by the war that they can be compared to 'old beggars'.

These images are used to show the immense harm and the brutality of war and its effect on men. The dead soldier describes the blood that clogged their “chariot-wheels” (line 35) showing his regret for participating in the war now that he was aware of its ugliness. Thus, when the soldier states that “the foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were” (line 42), he truly expresses the cruelty of war and how it leaves men with scarred souls. All of these images highlight the pure pain of war. Owen’s use of assonance, alliteration and onomatopoeia in the poem help to bring it to life and remind us of the horrific situation at ... ... middle of paper ... ...fred Owen to effectively build sympathy for the second soldier as he describes the pain that men suffered in war.

He clearly feels guilty at his survival, and he too is haunted by the images of the dead that he describes, how else could they be so vivid? This is perhaps the most interesting aspect revealed by Owen's poem, the scars left by war on a real human with the ability to express and communicate the damage in such a way that the reader is not only shocked, but greatly moved. The poem has its intensity because Owen was writing it while in direct contact with the 'mental cases' whereas Graves is more distant as well as describing the memories of war. A poem which describes an inability to remember is far less disturbing than a poem which describes not being able to forget.

In Owen’s poem “Dulce est Decorum et,” the poet uses similes to create a visual image of the terrifying experience he had during war. He uses the simile “Bent-double, like old beggars under sacks” (line 1) to describe his physical condition. He is unable to walk straight because the injuries he has sustained fighting in war make it hard on him to find his strength. He compares his sleep deprivation to being “Drunk with fatigue,” (7) comparing it to the inability to fully control his body. Owen also speaks about how war affects soldiers even in their sleep.

The poems theme is taken on and created throughout the use of many poetic devices and appeals such as imaginative appeal, sensual appeal as well as intellectual appeal. In the first stanza, Owen sets the scene through the use of imaginative appeal. This stanza contains a lot of simile and metaphors that show the readers how crushed these men are physically and mentally. The line “Till on the haunting flares we turned ours backs” suggests that Soldiers are turning their back to the lights of the battle field. Being exhausted, their knees are touching, “knock-kneed”, tired of supporting their heavy backpack he compares the condition of the poor soldiers to “old beggars” and “hags”, “like old beggars under sacks”.

The speaker describes these soldiers as ‘shadows’ which rock in the twighlight. As described from the first 2 lines. Though the severity is amplified in the rest of the stanza. With description such as ‘Drooping tongues from jaws’, shows how demented these soldiers have become with the trauma they have experienced. Further effects of witnessing of the horrors of war are also sensed in the sixth line, ‘Gouged these chasms around the... ... middle of paper ... ... decorum est Pro patria mori, It is sweet and proper to die for one’s country.

The war seems to drag on longer and longer for the speaker, and represents the prolonged suffering and agony of the soldier’s death that is described as the speaker dwells on this and is torn apart emotionally and distorts his impressions of what he experiences. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...e pleasing title. 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.

By 1917, his poetry had changed from blind patriotic disillusion and encouragement, to bitterness and anger. “Dulce et Decorum Est’, and “Disabled” were poems he wrote during his time in Craig Lockheart hospital, where he was suffering from shell shock. He had seen the tragedy and graphic brutality of trench warfare, and the trauma he had seen and experienced had sunk in. Both the poems focus on one main person or event. Wilfred Owen wrote these poems to highlight the reality of war, they were ‘protest poems’ to propaganda declaring fighting for soldiers as an honor.

‘Disabled’, by Wilfred Owen, is about a young boy who experiences war first hand, which results in losing his limbs. The loss of his limbs cause him to be rejected by society and be treated ‘’like a queer disease’’. Wilfred Owens personal opinion on war is evident throughout the poem. Own expresses a negative attitude towards war due to own traumatic past, experiencing war first hand. Owen creates sympathy for the soldier in ‘Disabled’ by using a wide range of poetic devices.

The irony in the poem Dulce it Decorum Est is that it is not sweet and fitting to die for one’s country when you have actually experienced war. Owen is describing how psychologically and physically exhausting W.W.I was for the soldiers that had to endure such a cruel ordeal and not how patriotic and honorable it was . In the first stanza Owen describes how the soldiers are trudging back to camp from battle. We see the soldiers, fatigued and wounded, returning to base camp: Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards are distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep.