The word choice Owen uses like “shivered” in the first stanza creates this atmospheric notion of coldness, wet, blue which contrasts with the first couplet in the second stanza. This comparison builds this sense of empathy for the veteran and displays how war Owen conveys the horror of war by describing the consequences of war. We know this because Owen writes “he sat in a wheelchair waiting for dark”. This is a very sentimental line as it shows what the soldier can do. All the soldier can do is “wait for dark”.
The way Owen crafts the poem clearly shows the ‘pity’ that he emphasizes throughout his poetry. His choice of language and structure illustrate his experience and emotions regarding the tragedy of war. Also, the image of horrendous conditions and psychologically disturbed soldiers continuously remind
Everyone knows that war has been a necessary evil since mankind has set foot on the Earth, but most people don’t understand the full scope of how horrible war can be. Wilfred Owen is a poet that experienced the horrors of war firsthand, so Owen’s personal experience allowed him to create two poems that reveal what war was like. These poems may have a similar subject, but the poems accomplish their tasks in very different ways. “The Parable of the Old Man and the Young” is an allusion to Genesis 22:1-19, but with a twist to reveal the truth about war. In “Arms and the Boy” Owens uses a more direct path to tell the reader the truth of war, which is through imagery and personification.
One thing is how strongly he believes and trust in God. Although Owen has visions of his death, he trust that God has a purpose for him and that everything will work out for the best. He repeatedly says that he is “God’s instrument”. Also, Owen genuinely wants to help other people. Dan tried to get Owen to participate in one of his shows but Owen refused.
For example,“The Song of the Mud” contains the line “covers the hills like satin” which is pleasing and makes you feel at ease which contradicts the fact that war is destructive and horrifying. Also, the word “song” in the title gives readers a feeling of enjoyment when in fact, the poem emits gloom. Owen’s main purpose of writing his poem was to expose “the old lie” which is “Dulce Et Decorum est.” This lie says that it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country; the truth is that it is a waste of human life. Owen had first-hand experience of the tragedies of World War I and wanted to destroy the misinterpretation of it by portraying the reality of war. Yet this reality was long kept from the knowledge of the civilians at home, who continued to write about the noble pursuit of
He set the tone for an entire generation of men and women affected by the war to think and write about the events that had resulted in a blood bath around the world. Owen’s gripping realism is important today because when we read his poetry, we feel as though we are with him on the battlefield, watching as men suffer in a frantic struggle to stay alive. Throughout this essay, I will explore the techniques used by Owen to illustrate the notion of the horror and futility of war. The reader is introduced to the horror of the war in the first lines of the poem through the description of the poor physical condition of men: “bent double, like old beggars under sacks” (1). The comparison to old beggars is interesting; it depicts how soldiers have aged prematurely by their experiences even though soldiers are usually supposed to be young and
Owen’s strong connection to his faith – partially from his parents – causes him to assume that he is an instrument of God, and given that he receives messages and visions into his future, along with the fact that his whole life is set up to accomplish one task, he is correct in assuming so. Owen is regarded as a spiritual figure in the first few pages of this book. As the novel begins, John claims: “What faith I have I owe to Owen Meany” (2). It is immediately apparent that Owen is deeply committed to his religion. The insight about his birth that the reader receives towards the end – Owen’s dad tells John “… ‘that Owen was a virgin birth…’” (536) – emphasizes the point that Owen is portrayed as a Christ figure.
In the most obvious way, this displays Owen’s clear affection for John. During the “surgery”, Owen warmly reassures John that “I love you … Nothing bad is going to happen to you – trust me” (Irving 509). He did not want John to have to suffer from the horrors of the Vietnam War and he knew the most pain-free way to make sure John received a deferment from combat. However, in another light, it is possible Owen was trying to postpone his own death. He claims in each of his visions about his demise, John is there.
Stephen Crane’s poem, “Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War Is Kind” quite clearly speaks to the horror and grief of war, but does so in a roundabout way that comes across as sarcasm; in fact, it is exactly this heavy use of verbal irony that drives his message home to the reader. Verbal irony, put simply, is the use of words to deliberately convey the opposite of their direct or literal meanings. For example, the first stanza of Crane’s poem reads, “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind. / Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky / And the affrighted steed ran on alone, / Do not weep. / War is kind” (Crane 1-5).
There are many similar themes that pervade both Wilfred Owen’s Anthem, for Doomed Youth, and George Herbert’s Prayer, such as war, and prayer. Strong emotions regarding both of those themes are conveyed through the juxtaposition of imagery, the personification of weaponry, and the use of metaphor to explain the conceptual. Language is also a critical element in both sonnets, shown through the use of alliteration in Anthem, and flowing lyricism in Prayer, demonstrating it is approached in strikingly different ways to achieve the desired effect. The prominence of religion and religious symbolism is an important factor of both poems, which reflects the importance of religion in matters such as war, and more obviously, prayer. Owen’s Anthem, for Doomed Youth approaches this concept of religion and its symbolism from, what would initially appear to be, an incredulous angle.