Imagine this, your 25-year-old son is in war, fighting for the sake of your country and your people. You are finally about to reunite with him after a long wait for his return. Imagine this, you receive a knock at your door 1 week before you were promised that your son, who is fighting for war, will be returning back home safely. Someone you’ve never met before tells you the most devastating news and before you know it, your son will not be returning home ever again. Imagine how this would feel,…
The poem that I have studied is ''Dulce Et Decorum Est'' by Wilfred Owen. The poet is trying to depict the reality. of war through this poem. The poem begins with a description of a group of soldiers retreating from the front lines of the battlefield. They are exhausted and are,''Bent double like old beggars under sacks ''. The poet used a simile to convey the ragged wretched state of the soldiers. They are''Coughing like hags''. The once clean, strong, handsome, young men are being compared to…
Literary compositions have the influential capability to depict the punitive truths of warfare and shape the reader's perspective. The harsh realities of war are portrayed through World War 1 poetry composed by Wilfred Owen enhancing the readers understanding of the bleak realities of war and its traumatic effects on the soldiers. The poems “Mental Cases” and “Exposure” illustrates the psychological trauma, the brutality of nature and loss of faith of which the soldiers faced as grim veracity of…
Guy Masterson - A Master of Poignant Poetry Guy Masterson brings the trenches of the Great War to life in his one-man show Anthem for a Doomed Youth, one of four performances in his #LestWeForget series, at the Bakehouse Theatre this Fringe season. Whether performing solo or with an accompanying cast, he consistently brings excellent productions to Adelaide and this is no exception; the show features Masterson expertly and passionately presenting a moving compilation of poems and prose from…
Wilfred Owen, an English soldier during World War 1, experienced horrific events during the war, and decided to write about the nightmare that he experienced. Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” is a testament to the nightmare and horrors of war. Through visual, auditory and gustatory imagery, Owen brings his readers back to the time of war, and into his nightmare. Owen uses visual imagery to reduce the men from heroes to weaklings. They are now weak, fearful, and sick. In the poem, Owen writes,…
World War I was one of the most influential forces at it’s time, inspiring many works of writing, music and, poetry. However, not all people viewed the conflict in same way. This resulted in a variety of themes and messages. For example, two poems written during the war, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Tennyson and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen portray incredibly opposed themes about war and conflict. These different perspectives can be seen in the diction and structure of…
Dulce Et Decorum Est is a poem written by Wilfred Owen following his own experience in the trenches during the Great War. His poem is based on the death of a fellow solider and how he was haunted by the brutality of war. The rhyme scheme to this poem is chaotic. First we have an octave, followed by a set-set, then a couplet and finally a 12 line stanza. Stanza one starts with the conventional ABABCDCD pattern in, however in the second stanza the rhyme scheme becomes abrupt. The stanza breaks…
treated victims with ointments for the skin and saline solutions for the eyes, a gas mask was invented but the chemical suit was not invented until the end of the First World War which meant the skin was not protected. Even then, manufacturing of the poison weapons never ceased and was used in multiple wars that were a lot smaller than World War 1. These attacks seemed helpful but as they were being conducted, the public’s opinion on using these weapons started to become unpopular, which led to…
The Old Lie: Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen had experienced first-hand the horrors of World War One, and watched as countless young lives were slaughtered believing “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est” (27), that it was sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. He wrote the poem Dulce et Decorum Est to clearly refute the message espoused by many, that war is glorious, by bringing to life the horrors of warfare through vivid imagery. This was accomplished by exposing the gruesome conditions…
George S. McGovern once said “I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.” McGovern is stating that the “old men”, the government use the young men of a specific country to fight the wars they initiate. War is most of the time seen as a sense of pride and tribute for one’s country, but many don’t realize the savagery battlefields hold. Just like George McGovern, the poet, Wilfred Owen, who was a soldier in World War One and died in that Great War wrote many…