Compare and contrast how Wilfred Owen and Isobel Thrilling portray the
horror, suffering and inevitable disillusionment of war in their
respective poems.
The two poets that I am going to compare and contrast in this essay
both write from a different perspective of the war. They are writing
about different poems, Owen writes about the 1st world war and
Thrilling the 2nd. Both poets are in a different setting when they
write these poems, Thrilling is back at home whereas Owen is in the
middle of the action, he is in the battlefield. This makes his poems
more vivid and realistic. Owen was an adult at this stage and writes
it from a soldier's point of view, however Thrilling writes from a
child's point of view.
The poems that I am going to write about are "Dulce et Decorum est.",
"Disabled", "Children in wartime" and "Evacuee". "Dulce et Decorum
est." written by Owen and "Evacuee" which is written by Thrilling are
very similar in that they are both very subtle and use somber imagery.
However the other two poems are much more vivid and attack the reader.
The first poem I am going to write about is "Dulce et Decorum est". It
has an angry and bitter tone throughout. Owen describes the soldier's
as "old, weak and frail. "This shows us the extreme conditions of war.
Soldiers were not though of as weak and frail so it is ironic. The war
was very gruesome and horrid; we can see this from onomatopoeic words
in the poem such as "sludge". There is a homeless image given in the
first line through a similie, "like old beggars". The war is portrayed
as a routine and this is shown through the rhyming.
The words "haunting and frightening" are used to symbolise soldiers
like ghosts and maybe already dead? This can al...
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...r, this makes it similar to "Children in
wartime". They're also similar because "Dulce et decorum est" talks
about a group of soldiers and "Children in wartime" is a children's
collective voice. "Disabled" and "Evacuee" are similar because they
are subtle and detailed. They are also about isolation and reflect the
lives of individuals.
From my point of view You can not possibly say that one poet is more
effective than the other. However their contrasting styles affect the
reader in different ways. Owen with far more vivid poetry, and much
more hostility towards women and the reader. But Thrilling with a much
more emotional and sympathetic style. I think that Owen attacks the
reader and questions the meaning of war directly, but Thrilling evokes
sympathy for the innocence of children. Thrilling also questions he
meaning of war but it is much more subtle.
Wilfred Owen and Bruce Dawe both experienced war, however they were involved in two different conflicts. Owen was an English soldier and anti-war poet who died a hero in conflict one week before World War I ended. This demonstrates success for the country itself and the veterans being seen as heroes. Contrastingly, Dawe was a university educated anti-war poet from Australia who joined the air force during the Vietnam War. This was controversial for both soldiers and people from the country being conflicted about their involvement in the war.
other hand, John Mc Crae was in the 2nd wave of poets. He viewed war
Irony of War Exposed in Dulce et Decorum, Regeneration, and Quiet on the Western Front. Many of the young officers who fought in the Great War enlisted in the army with glowing enthusiasm, believing that war was played in fancy uniforms with shiny swords. They considered war a noble task, an exuberant journey filled with honor and glory. Yet, after a short period on the front, they discovered that they had been disillusioned by the war: fighting earned them nothing but hopelessness, death and terror.
Furthermore, in the continental army there was a surgeon who was treating the sick and wounded. He said that “The Army which has been surprisingly healthy hitherto, now begins to grow sickly from the continued fatigues they have suffered this Campaign.” This means that once the army was strong but the lack of food and sickness rampaged in the camp of the army. This made life very hard for the soldiers.
Both Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” as well as “next to of course god america i” written by E.E. Cummings preform critic on war propaganda used during the first world war. Besides this the influence war propaganda has on the soldiers as individuals as well as on war in more general terms, is being portrayed in a sophisticated and progressive manner. By depicting war with the use of strong literary features such as imagery or sarcasm both texts demonstrate the harshness of war as well as attempt to convey that war propaganda is, as Owen states “an old lie”, and that it certainly is not honourable to die for one’s country. Therefore, the aim of both writers can be said to be to frontally attack any form of war promotion or support offensively
How Wilfred Owen Uses Language and Imagery in His Poetry to Communicate his Attitudes of War
All exceptional poetry displays a good use of figurative language, imagery, and diction. Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a powerful antiwar poem which takes place on a battlefield during World War I. Through dramatic use of imagery, metaphors, and diction, he clearly states his theme that war is terrible and horrific.
portrays them to be. The speaker chooses words such as “bent double, like old baggers” and “knock-kneed” (Owens 1-2) to expose the discomfort and effects that war has on young soldiers. The soldiers are discreetly compared to crippled old men which emphasizes just how badly war has affected their bodies, stripping them of their health, making them weak and helpless like “old beggars” (Owen 1). Furthermore, the speaker expresses his experience as a sold...
However, the contents of the poem itself in fact contradict the title, and the speaker will actually refuse to accept the Latin saying, and actually detest the patriotic propaganda. Through Owen’s use of metaphors and similes, the argument the speaker is making within the poem becomes more apparent. 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).
Considered the leading English poet of the First World War, Owen is remembered for realistic poems depicting the horrors of war, which were inspired by his experiences at the Western Front in 1916 and 1917. Owen considered the true subject of his poems to be "the pity of war," and attempted to present the true horror and realities of battle and its effects on the human spirit. His unique voice, which is less passionate and idealistic than those of other war poets, is complemented by his unusual and experimental style of writing. He is recognized as the first English poet to successfully use pararhyme, in which the rhyme is made through altered vowel sounds. Owen’s distinct way of both writing and reading poems led to influence other poets in the 1920s and 1930s.
World War one and two. Both these wars stole many young men’s lives from them. Stole sons from their mothers. Stole brothers from their sister but also stole many innocent lives in the process. An estimated 60 million lives lost and for what? For land, for power, wealth. War is brutal, gruesome, costly and pointless. What good could possibly come from a war? The truth is without these wars, the world of literature wouldn’t be the same. These wars bought rise to names such as Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, and Edward Thomas. Among all that death, destruction, and calamity; somehow great poets were born.
Cather, Willa. "Stephen Crane's Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind." In Willa Cather on Writing: Critical Studies on Writing as an Art. Lincoln: Bison-U of Nebraska P, 1988: 67-74.
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.
One of the main themes of The Great War and Modern Memory was the irony that surrounded the war and affected the soldiers fighting in it. One of the reasons why the war was so ironic was because it was worse than many people were expecting it to be. In response
The quote shows that when the war is done, the men "will be making homes" (line 6). This shows irony as the war is just beginning however, the authorities are already discussing the events when the war finishes. This is to distract society from the dying soldiers and show them what they will win: new homes.