War Poets: Brooke, Sassoon, and Rosenberg

The second defines glory not as something won, but something given. The Son affirms this definition when he explains to the loyal angels why he alone must end the war: "against me is all their rage, / Because the Father, to whom in Heaven supreme / Kingdom and power and glory appertains, / Hath honored me, according to his will" (vi, 813-816). James Holly Hanford perhaps best describes the conflicted feelings Milton had for war: War, then constituted for Milt... ... middle of paper ... ...on's example and by Milton's manipulation of the elements of the epic tradition. For Milton, putting down the epic tradition in favor of Christian doctrine exemplifies his thoughts on war. As a realistic pacifist, Milton saw war as the result of sin, but knew that because of the presence of sin in a post-lapsarian world, war on earth would only be ended by the Son, just as he ended it in Heaven.

The questions that arise because of the togetherness of Christian and Pagan ideas are simply a reflection of the time it was written. A time where a society struggled with the change in a belief system. Where they wanted to believe in their ‘heroic code’ and the idea of fate, but also wanted to believe that they had God fighting on their side, and that good would prevail. Grendel and Beowulf exemplify the struggle between good and evil forces seamlessly. Grendel fits every description of an evil force, and Beowulf is the epitome of what was considered good.

Glory and gore go hand in hand... depending on who writes it. During the great tragedy of World War One, writers expressed two major viewpoints of the war: patriotism/idealism, and cynicism. The artists who focused on idealistic and patriotic themes wrote mainly at the beginning of the war, prior to the point where its full horrors, and its futility became apparent. Examples include the British soldier/poets, Rupert Brooke and Julian Grenfell. On the other hand, we had poets like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, and the German novelist, Erich Maria Remarque, who became famous for their cynical and even bitter approach to war.

World War One has influenced many poets to write their experiences of war. Dulce et Decorum est, by Wilfred Owen, is a poem about the horrid experiences soldiers went through while they were at war. Owen describes the atrocity of a gas attack and the painful mental anguish that was shown on the soldiers face. Rupert Brook’s, The Soldier, describes the patriotism that supposedly accompanies war. His view of war is that dying for your country is the most honorable act of man.

Yeats’ poem was written shortly after World War I, and the speaker foresees an apocalypse due to the sin of man as a whole. Both authors portray the perceived actions of God, though the speaker within “The Convergence of the Twain” appears to be more accepting and less fearful. Throughout “The Second Coming”, the speaker demonstrates their fear of God’s inevitable reaction to World War I. Both poems share the imagery of water, though its significance varies between poems. The speaker’s acceptance of God’s will within Hardy’s poem represents a devout religiosity that is unwavering throughout this writing, and Yeats’ depiction focuses on fear of the coming future.

Silencing the enemy is a very fitting title for this book. It is fitting because the author, Robert Gay, explains how God suppresses the devices of the adversary through the praise and worship of His people. Although the term “spiritual warfare” is not found in scripture, Paul expounds on the concept throughout the New Testament. He encourages the saints to “Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”. This scripture informs us that we are in a battle, a battle that has been raging since the beginning of time.

Many people have opposing views about wars which may have been developed over time based on many factors such as family upbringing, culture, political views, or personal experiences. In the two poems studied, Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum est" and Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade", war has been described with completely opposing views. In the former, Owen describes war as a horrifying and inglorious event with men in war being grim and sorrowful while the soldiers died devastatingly. On the other hand, Tennyson describes war as being a glorious and victorious event where it is an absolute honour for a soldier to die on the gallant battlefield. To compare and contrast the two poems, the tone of the poems are examined where in "Dulce Et Decorum Est", Owen depicts the war as dismal, while in Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade", the author enlightens the experience of war as a heroic battle.

In doing do I will look at how each poet is effective in conveying the message through their use of imagery. Wilfred Owen most eminent poem regarding war is known as Dulce et Decorum est which means The Old Lie in Latin. T... ... middle of paper ... ...eam for fighting for their country is in reality a living nightmare both physically and psychologically and in fact there is nothing honourable in war and life on the battlefield. Instead he wants the reader to understand that war rapes a soldier of human dignity. He does this effectively through the use of his bold description of the gas attack incident and his elaborate description of the soldiers appearances.

Does Owens poetry do more than offer the reader an insight into the horrors of war? Discuss with reference to at least two poems. Wilfred Owen is arguable the greatest of the world war one poets. This is a man who through personal experience offers us not only insight into the astrocities of war but also illustrates the struggle of nature and the mental state these men cross into on the battle field. In ‘Spring Offensive’, Owen mixes the ideas of war and nature in a conversational tone unlike ‘Futility’ in which Owen questions the pointlessness of war and religion in this compact poem.

Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke are both poems commentating on the effects of war, yet both have two drastically different viewpoints. Both poems are examples of the authors’ perceptions of war; Owen’s being about its gruesome and harsh reality during his experience and Brooke’s about the glory of dying for one’s country. The poets express their sentimental emotions on the subject matter in terms of figurative language, tone, diction and imagery. The tone is exhibited through the use of unyielding and vivid imagery, primarily by the use of compelling metaphors and similes. 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.