War Poetry

War Poetry

World War one was a great impact for many people. Even the way they

thought. The poet Wilfred Owen expressed himself in many famous poems.

For many, his poems symbolize the experience of the 'Great War'.

Wilfred Owen was a remarkable young man. When he died he was around 25

years old, but his poetry has proved enduring and influential and is

among the best known in the English language. All his poems seem to

rhyme. He left behind a unique testament to the horrific impact of the

First World War on an entire generation of young soldiers. Owens's

work leaves one with an enduring sense of the tragedy of war.

Owen used his strong sense of indignation to create a feeling of

compassion for all the soldiers. As Owen himself experienced a deep

horror and disgust at the reality of war. In the trenches he realized

how horrific the war was and started to make notes about the

conditions. He would attempt to fix the scenery of the war firmly in

the mind of the reader and in this way more expressively stress the

tremendous suffering that constitutes 'the pity of war'. There was no

glory in war for Owen. One of his poems is the great anti-patriotic

verse Dulce Et Decorum Est. Arguably it is a fine example of his

narrative, first person poems, written through his own eyes and based

on his own experiences and views of the war. In this poem we are shown

the disapproving side of war. Whereas some other poems make the war

seem like a game and that you would be missing out on a big

opportunity if you don't go, when really you would be better off

secure at home. This poem was in order to inform people about the

terror, anguish and torment which was experienced during the war. The

poem really describes the blindness, evil, sufferings, deaths and the

disgust of the war.

The first words are of a Latin saying. The words were widely

understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War.