Disillusionment of Glory: Analyzing War Poetry

War brings about the death of thousands, leaving behind trails of corpses, and unfulfilled promises of glory. The idea of glory on the battlefield is emphasized to young, impressionable minds that fall to believe. Two poems that deal with this issue are “Dulce et Decorum Est” written by Wilfred Owen in 1920, and “War is Kind” written by Stephan Crane in 1899. “Dulce et Decorum Est” is a fictional first-hand view of war in action. The poem’s peak occurs when the narrator is reciting what he sees when another soldier encounters poisonous gas. “War is Kind” is more of a situational view of war because the scenarios can fit a wide variety of stories during wartime. The poem gives three situations where the wife, child, and mother are told how their loved ones died on the battlefield.

Owen and Crane both use imagery to get their messages across to the reader. To begin, Owen’s use of imagery gives a strong vision about what the narrator sees when the soldier dies from poisonous gas. The gas is released into the air when shouts of “Gas! Gas Quick, boys!” (Owen, 903) are heard through the air. Owen’s poem was written in 1920 which was during World War I. In the poem, the gas looks like “thick green light, as under a green sea” (Owen, 903). The soldier affected by the gas was

In “Dulce et Decorum Est” the tone is emphatic, and fairs as a warning to subjecting young minds to a bias view of war. Owen’s poem serves to depict war as nothing short of a lie. The lie that is it sweet and honorable to die for one’s country is stated as an “old Lie” (Owen, 903). In “War is Kind” the tone is more sarcastic and blunt. When Crane states “Do not weep. War is kind,” it is after a horrific depiction of a gruesome death. Sarcasm, in this poem, is used to make a point that most people would agree with; war is not kind, but instead is so cruel it must not be a way to show