Strange Meeting ‘Strange Meeting’ by Wilfred Owen is a poem about a soldier in war who makes contact with the spirit of a dead soldier. The poem begins with the relief of a soldier as he escapes the war; but then realizes where he was when he sees the dead soldier. The spirit tells him that joining war is simply a waste of your life. The poem describes the cruelty and harshness of war, and what it’s like to be in it. Owen’s main aim was to open up the truth about war and the horrific and gruesome reality of being a soldier, contradicting the propaganda illustrating soldiers as heroic, honorable, and proud.
Although the poems "Recalling War" by Robert Graves and "Mental Cases" by Wilfred Owen are both concerned with the damage that war does to the soldiers involved, they are different in almost every other respect. Owen's poem examines the physical and mental effects of war in a very personal and direct way - his voice is very much in evidence in this poem - he has clearly seen people like the 'mental cases' who are described. It is also evident that Owen's own experiences of the war are described: he challenges the reader with terrifying images, in order that the reader can begin to comprehend the causes of the madness. Graves on the other hand is far more detached. His argument is distant, using ancient images to explore the immediate and long-term effects of war on the soldier.
This may be hard for some to grasp, as Frost is world renowned for his alleged nature theme. Contrary to popular opinion, nature is not Frost’s central theme in his poetry; it is the contrast between man and nature as well as the conflicts that arise between the two entities. Frost’s nature poetry interconnects the world of the natural and the world of human beings – Both key elements of his motivation in writing poetry. The harsh reality of nature and the thoughtless expectations in the minds of man scarcely cohere to one another. Frost usually starts with an observation in nature, contemplates it and then connects it to some psychological concern (quoted in Thompson).
“Dulce Et Decorum Est” is a very powerful poem that is drawn from the author Wilfred Owen’s own experiences. This poem has great imagery and uses many metaphors which make the reader put themselves in Owen’s eyes. The pain is felt in his voice as he talks about his friend that he sees dying, yet he can do nothing about. His poem has an ironic point about how if people would put themselves in his spot at that moment they would not be telling their children that war was good. While in “Dead Troops Talk”, which is a photograph done by Jeff Wall, there seems to be a different feeling about it.
Death is a very sad concept in any form of literature. Wilfred Owen’s poem Anthem for Doomed Youth pulls the reader into these feelings of depression resulting from the loss of a loved one. From the beginning to the end of the poem, Owen skillfully uses metaphors, imagery, and other literary devices to describe and narrate the story of young men of arms lost forever. Owen uses Anthem for Doomed Youth to express the hardships and emotional trauma experienced by soldiers and their families during times of war. Looking at the title right away we know this poem has to involve death and the death of young people.
Regardless of one’s personal feelings, it was it difficult to avoid joining... ... middle of paper ... ...ysical wounds, your emotional wounds would always be deeper. Soldiers who survived were eternally traumatized and struggled to regain their humanity. In literature authors like Wilfred Owen who had personally killed men, and seen hundreds die, did not glorify war through their work, while poets like Rupert Brooke who were unaware of the darkness beneath the shiny medals and pride, wrote with patriotism. This shows the impact and difference of perspective found in literature during World War One and how a writer’s background and experience strongly influences the way one perceives a certain situation, for those who do not experience have no way of judging, or knowing. Tragedy is not something that should be promoted as glorious, but courage is, for courage is always commendable, but not all wars are.
In conclusion Wilfred Owen has successfully reached his points across about futility. In both poems Owen reflects the reality of war with a very strong tone and his ideas and themes can be clearly seen in these poems. Both poems show how everything happens in a sudden. Wilfred Owen describes the pain and horrors of the soldiers, unforgettable and if we were in that same situation, we could not encourage the next generation to fight. Wilfred Owen conveyed that these poems show the horrors of war and how pointless and worthless it is.
Both poets swirl around the idea of death in the name of ones country, in this case England in the World War 1 era, but this example serves different purposes in the two poems. Owen uses a graphic example where he remorsefully describes the death caused by a gas attack, exposing to his readers that war is an ugly, brutal and detestable encounter. Yet Brooke uses a different approach, and expresses that not only is it every man’s duty to fight and die for his country to preserve perfection, but once dead, the ashes shall physically enrich the already ‘rich’ soil “In that rich earth, a richer dust concealed”. And all ‘English’ values that the motherland bore will live on in one form or another. This way Brooke tries to convince that there is a deeper meaning to what lies on the surface of war.
Poems of War Rupert Brooke’s “The Dead” (Brooke p109) tries to convince you that death in battle is sweet and honorable. Compared to Wilfred Owens “Dulce et Decorum est” we read a poem with a completely different opinion about war. It's a gruesome first hand experience of trench warfare. Through the entire poem Rupert Brooke tries to persuade the younger generation of readers in joining the army. He tries to make it seem sensational, and plead to the younger generation by making it come across as heroic.
Eliot points out that until death occurs, rebirth and transformation cannot take place. The concept that death is a necessity is a very difficult concept to accept, leaving the reader disillusioned. The fragmented and disillusioned feelings the reader receives from reading The Waste Land mimics the emotions felt by the world after the war. The recurring sensory images that Eliot uses appeal to the reader’s fear of the loss