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Refugee Blues Essay

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Compare and contrast the ways that Owen and Auden present the effects of war in ‘Disabled’ and ‘Refugee Blues’. Both ‘Disabled’ and ‘Refugee Blues’ intensely explore the horrors and misconceptions of war using similar and distinct tones and structures. Owen chose to present the effects of war in ‘Disabled’ by using more emotive language than Auden had used in ‘Refugee Blues’: this is evident in Owens constant reference to the ‘warrior’, whom is the voice of the poem, throughout each stanza. However, Auden referred to animals and plants, as well as scenery multiple times in his poem which is somewhat ironic as Owen talks about the ‘warrior’ in the third person, whereas Auden represented his voice in the first person narrative which is known …show more content…

However there were some lines which expressed regret, as the soldier could no longer feel that way. In contrast to the warriors current tone of despair and hopelessness, Owen continues to depict the soldiers pre-war persona in inviting descriptions. “When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees, / And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim — / In the old times, before he threw away his knees.” This switch in tones is abrupt to the extent that it harshened the tone and implied anger; as if to express how quickly the warrior had lost all the good in his life. In contrast with the angry and harsh tone, the alliteration creates a fascinating one which is joined by the alluring one created with the description of the females. The warriors blameful opinion towards the war is evident, along with his carelessness in the phrase ‘threw away his knees”. He also reveals a contradictory opinion on women in the same stanza after parsing them: “All of them touch him like some queer disease.” This implies that he has been betrayed by women. The alluring tone continues when he mentions the highland uniform, the ‘smart salutes’ and ‘Esprit de corps’ in stanza five. The switches of tones within a single stanza is also used throughout the entire poem, ‘Refugee Blues’. Each stanza

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