Dulce Et Decorum Est And Futility

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Comparative Essay – ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ & ‘Futility’
Wilfred Owen is an extensively recognised poet born in 1893. Owen is honoured for his meaningful poems on World War One. Owen expressed the true nature of war through the uncivilised experiences that soldiers faced. Wilfred Owen was born in the United Kingdom and lived in Oswestry. From the age of nineteen, Owen wanted to be a poet. Owens largest motivations were John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelly who were two British poets.
Wilfred Owen is was a zealous poet who expressed his hatred for war throughout his lifetime. Two poems that outline the horrors of war are ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and ‘Futility’, which are both written by Owen. The themes of ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ are suffering and warfare compared to ‘Futility’ which convey the themes of depression, hopelessness and grief. Throughout ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, Owen illustrates the physical pain and psychological trauma soldiers have suffer when at war. ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ translates in …show more content…

‘Drunk with fatigue’ displays the men’s physical state. Soldiers are tired and exhausted as they trudge towards the journey ahead. An additional poetic technique Owen uses in ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ is simile. ‘Like old beggars’ ‘coughing like old hags’. Owen compares the men to old, ugly woman meaning that the soldiers have lost their youth. ‘Futility’ reflect on a death of a soldier, imagery is used in contrasts to the sun. Owen compares the glow from the sunlight with the inability to wake up the lifeless.
In conclusion, Wilfred Owen was a recognised poet as he expressed the realism of war through his poems. ‘Futility’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ are both influential and powerful poems that can change an individual’s perspective on war. The themes of suffering, warfare, depression and grief all play a big role in both poems as Owen wanted to let the world understand the true nature of

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