Six War Poems and the Theme of War

We feel that the soldiers are heroic as the "Half a league" moves onwards into battle. When the poem is read allowed the tripling sounds like marching. This effect gives a sense of bravery from The Light Briga... ... middle of paper ... ...be that the victim of the gas attack is so badly scared his face is like a sick devil. Tennyson, from what has been implied in the poem, views war something that is for the brave and people should respect those who have fought for Britain. Despite his patriotic view, he has repeated the danger of an early death in his poem, proving he is fully aware of war's horrors.

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. Owen’s poem ‘Strange Meeting’ shows the horrors of war through dramatic and memorable imagery that allow us to feel deep pity for the young soldiers, whether it’s physical or the soldier’s inner mental pain. For example, “They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress” (line 29) is a metaphor describing the violent attacks during the war. Meanwhile, “With a thousand fears that vision's face was grained” (line 11) gives a clear picture of what the dead soldier’s face was like, bringing pity to the reader. These images are used to show the immense harm and the brutality of war and its effect on men.

He describes war as atrocious, and explains the cruelty and massacre the soldiers go through. He addresses the reader and advises them that it’s not worth dying at war for quick glory. Owen has shown this by saying, “His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sins;”, which signifies the horror of what they were dealing with. They without doubt have converse portrayals of war. Figurative languages have been used in both poems to portray their experiences at war.

An analysis of Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est and Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light brigade Wilfred Owen and Alfred Lord Tennyson both wrote prominent poetry on the issue surrounding war. Owen was born on the 18th March 1893. Owen experienced the war and therefore he wrote elaborate detail on life on the battlefield. One of his famous poems on the aspect of war is known as ‘Dulce et Decorum Est which means it is sweet and beautiful to die for your native land in Latin. Although the title of the poem is positive the message in the poem illuminates the negative aspects of war and is written through the eye of a soldier which is Owen himself.

This also makes the soldiers appear very brave, as they show little fear. To conclude, I would say that ‘Spring Offensive’ is an exceptional piece of writing that moved me greatly. I felt real sympathy and sadness for the men that lost their lives for their country after the officers threw them into the front line. This feeling is strengthened through ‘Futility’, which makes the pointlessness of the War even more apparent. Owen uses rhythm and style to paint the terrible pictures of war in order to rouse the reader into thinking about his ideas.

His poem explains how the British press and public comforted themselves with the fact that all the young men dying in the war were dieing noble, heroic deaths. The reality was quite different: They were dieing obscene and terrible deaths. Owen wanted to throw the war in the face of the reader to illustrate how vile and inhumane it really was. He explains in his poem that people will encourage you to fight for your country, but, in reality, fighting for your country is simply sentencing yourself to an unnecessary death. The breaks throughout the poem indicate the clear opposition that Owen strikes up.

The terror of death will infest the minds of soldiers... ... middle of paper ... ...as they dread wound and death. They have nothing to look forward to but years of rage. They have experienced the horrors of war but have not experienced the enjoyments of life. They will be pushed aside and forgotten and the years will pass, and in the end they will fall into ruin. All Quiet on the Western Front tries to explain the purpose of war and its uselessness.

In contrast Owen's poem attacks the idealistic and romantic view put forward by Brooke. He argues against the ideals of heroism and self-sacrifice. He is more concerned with all the men going into war thinking that it is heroic and glorious when actually it is horrible and that millions of men die every day. The poem which I prefer between Rupert Brooke's The Soldier and Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est is Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum because it describes the war as I believe it is and it is very descriptive on how the gas attack happened and how all the men felt. So I like Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum overall

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'. The emotion that illuminates from these statements is powerful and intense. It is now clear that one, who has survived through the war, could not possibly glorify it in any way. 'His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin' This is another great use of simile. It suggests that the soldier's face was probably covered in blood, which is the colour symbolising the devil.

It is interesting when discussing WW1 poetry to examine how attitudes to war at the time may have influenced the poets. Before WW1 war was generally viewed as a positive thing. Many young men followed a career in the army and saw it as something of an adventure. The horrors of WW1 changed many people’s attitudes to war, the mechanisation of warfare led to millions of casualties and this resulted into a general realisation that war wasn’t a glorious adventure. Many soldiers wrote powerful poems about the reality of war as they wanted the truth to be known.