Perhaps those most affected by war are those who lost their lives fighting for their cause. However, the integrity of those who died can sometimes be compromised, which Randall Jarrell illustrates in his poem “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” which captures the last moments of a soldier’s life in World War II.
War is a transformative event because it alters people's perspectives of war, and leaves them suffering, mentally and physically. When the soldiers experienced the true realities of the war, they were left haunted, as depicted in the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen. This poem explains the true realities of the war and how he was left with a damaged mental state. Owen says:
Throughout history, one of the most common occurrences during times of warfare is the death of the soldiers who are fighting for their country. Depending on one’s point of view, a soldier’s death at war could be honorable and glorified, or it can be a gruesome, anonymous demise. In the two poems, “Epitaph on a Solider” by Cyril Tourneur and “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner” by Randal Jarrell, there is a stark contrast between the emotional impacts experienced by the reader. Through each author’s unique writing style, “Tourneur’s Epitaph on a Soldier” shows glory in a soldier’s death and is supportive of war, while Jarrell’s “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner” gives a much more painful impression of war and the passing of those involved in it.
Both Ted Hughes and Wilfred Owen present war in their poems “Bayonet Charge” and “Exposure”, respectively, as terrifying experiences, repeatedly mentioning the honest pointlessness of the entire ordeal to enhance the futility of the soldiers' deaths. Hughes’ “Bayonet Charge” focuses on one person's emotional struggle with their actions, displaying the disorientating and dehumanising qualities of war. Owen’s “Exposure”, on the other hand, depicts the impacts of war on the protagonists' nation, displaying the monotonous and unending futility of the situation by depicting the fate of soldiers who perished from hypothermia, exposed to the horrific conditions of open trench warfare before dawn. The use of third-person singular pronouns in “Bayonet
The Glorification of Psychological Harm “Epitaph on a Soldier,” by Cyril Tourneur, an English soldier and diplomat during the 16th and 17th centuries, depicts the honorable death of a soldier during a time when war was glorious and fighting for one’s country was almost customary. Meanwhile, in “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” the 20th century poet Randall Jarrell illustrates a more bleak image of gunner’s blunt and harsh death during World War II, when war became less magnificent and much more brutal. The reassuring and honoring tone in “Epitaph on a Soldier” expresses that the triumphant experiences of war cause a young soldier to become mature so that his life is complete, while the bitter and disturbed tone in “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” communicates that a soldier’s grim time in war and subsequent death is, in reality, devoid of all glory and only mentally scars a soldier. “Epitaph on a
These poets however had no idea what the reality of the war was. In the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, by using figurative language, vivid imagery, and a certain diction, he describes the horrific despair that went along with war.
War is inevitable, futile and hopeless, as the poem Dulce et Decorum Est, discusses the horrors of war and how soldiers just end up dying grim, unheroic deaths. “Flound’ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, as under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” A line found in the second stanza vividly creates an undoubtedly disturbing image of gassed soldiers, stumbling and collapsing, choking on thick green gas.
Both Dulce et Decorum Est and Mametz Wood present the incompetent results of war. Dulce et Decorum Est indicates the horrible facts and deaths in war. Moreover, Mametz Wood highlights how precious life is and how easily it can be lost as a result of battle. In this poem “Dulce et decorum Est”, Owen portrays the deadly effects of conflict through the use of metaphor: “as under a green sea, I saw him drowning”. Here, he describes the pain of the gas attack.
Using the last 12 lines to display hideous images of the effects of the poison gas that stole the life from his comrade, “froth-corrupted lungs” (22), “white eyes writhing in his face,” (19) and “guttering, choking, drowning,” (18) are just some of the ways Owen forces the reader to imagine the brutal event that frequents his mind. The poem eventually becomes a barrage of detail and description of the horrid events that he recalls from his time near a battlefield. Owen uses his experience to hammer home how far humanity can stray from what we have convinced ourselves is normal life. Rounding off his efforts to dissuade his audience from buying into the lies told by his older countrymen, Owen cautions his audience to heed the words that they might hear at home. “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori” (27-28).
Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ structure hints to the uncertainty of war. In the first eight lined stanza, Owen describes the soldiers from a third person point of view. The second stanza is shorter and consists of six lines. This stanza is more personal and is written from a first person 's point of view. This stanza reflects the pace of the soldiers as everything is fast and uncoordinated because of the gas, anxiety and the clumsiness of the soldiers.
Through both of his poems, Dulce Et Decorum Est and Disabled, Owen clearly illustrates his feeling about war. Both of them convey the same meaning that war destroyed people’s lives. For Dulce Et, Decorum Est, it mainly illustrates soldier’s life during war, the dreadfulness of war, whereas, Disabled illustrates how war have damaged soldier’s life. Also, the saying that said that war it is lovely and honorable to die for your country is completely against his point of view. Owen conveys his idea through graphically describing his horrible experiences in war.
In the present day, the idea of conflict is a very controversial and opinionated subject. The majority of modern society understand the havoc and both physical and physiological damage war can cause, although this has not always been the traditional opinion; the approach in Elizabethan times differed vastly from views now, as is reflected in the patriotic Elizabethan play “Henry V” by William Shakespeare. In this essay, I will be comparing this motivating theatrical with three controversial poems from the First World War era; “Suicide in the Trenches” by Siegfried Sassoon (published in his 1918 collection), “Who’s for the Game” by Jessie Pope (originally published in the Daily Mail in 1916) and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen (published
Firstly within the poems, both Owen and Harrison present the horrific images of war through use of visual imagery. “And leaped of purple spurted his thigh” is stated. Owen describes the immediate action of presenting the truth of war as horrific and terrifying . The phrase “purple spurted” represents the odd color of the blood which was shedded as the boulder from the bomb smashed his leg in a matter of seconds. The readers
The pain that the soldier could get from guns could only last for a moment, but it also could be a pain that comes slowly, gradually and kills you with tough and suffer, which is an agony for mentally and physically, connecting to theme. “The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells” is from seventh line in first stanza. Owen also uses symbol to describe the scene of soldiers dying in the battle field by comparing with actual funeral in church with friends and families grieving his death. However, there are no beautiful calming voice choirs from the church in the battlefield to make the dead person rest in peace; no people to grieve, no funerals there. Instead, they here the sound of dull and big sound of shells attacking them.
Through this poem Owen describes war as never ending and painful. It brought
