Many people die in war. Sometimes a death is a horrific experience for everyone involved, other times it is twisted into a beautiful sacrifice. In the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, the cruel truths of war are revealed. Through the use of diction, imagery, and figurative language, Owen conveys a disgusted and angry tone that describes his attitude about dying for one’s country.
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.
How can different perceptions about one topic be expressed in poetry? The main theme that the two sets of poems convey is war, but it’s expressed in different point of views through the use of diction that builds tone. The tones of these poems play a big role in conveying the differences between the different eras that these poems are written in, and shows how societies have changed from the Victorian era till the time of World War I.
With every journey comes a destination which is dependent on the degree of the individual and their will to potentially better themselves. A journey offers travelers the opportunity to extend themselves physically, intellectually and emotionally as they respond to challenges. Ruby Moon by Matt Cameron is a contemporary fractured fairytale in the form of a play that explores the grim, Australian legend of the missing child. This text portrays real issues in an absurd representation which forces the reader on an imaginative journey as well as the characters in an inner journey to establish an identity. Beach Burial by Kenneth Slessor is a distressing elegy about loss of life through war. Slessor’s sophisticated language, allows the responder
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.
This disheartening conceit, that eternally battles time for relevance, illuminates lack of importance people place on living beings, and on life in general. Humankind has lost sight of the original divinity of existence a
Recently, I have read a poem named “In Flanders Field”, written by John McCrae, a Canadian writer.
Today, many Civil War veterans have PTSD. According to Mayo Clinic, “Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that 's triggered by a terrifying event, either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event” ("Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”). “The Artilleryman’s Vision” by Walt Whitman and the movie “Glory” both portrayed disturbing experiences of war; however, Whitman’s poem is more personal, vivid, and relatable; therefore, the reader gains a better understanding of how PTSD affects an individual.
The two sets of poems share the same topic which is living through war, but they have different tones, diction, settings and symbols. Poetry set one views war as a way of gaining honor while set two claims that it’s a waste of lives and all these opposing ideas are due to the different timeline. Tone and diction are one of the most important elements in poetry, because tone is the general character or attitude of a place in a piece of writing, while diction is the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing. They can be simply differentiated in general terms as the way or style of speech of a person and the different pitches expressed due to the different emotions being experienced by him/her during speaking which I will go further in detail by the end of this essay.
In essence, these two poems are drastically different works of art. "Dulce et Decorum est" is a more graphical and relational work compared to the latter, as you go on a journey as a soldier who gets to experience traumatic and graphic events, it begins to alter what you think about war and conflict. As you read on, it gives you graphical wording to prove that the saying "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" is a misrepresentation of actual war. After reading, the underlying message becomes apparent, it wants you to alter your current perceptions about war and how pointless they really are. In contrast, "The Things that Make a Soldier Great" aims to clear up what soldiers really go to war for, they are not there for "The pomp and pride of kings" but only when you "Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run—You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.", soldiers fight to protect their homes, not their kings. The poem aims to glorify soldiers and certain aspects of war, it goes on to prove that in reality there really isn 't good vs bad on the battlefield, it 's just a man who "sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call, And only death can stop him now—he 's fighting for them all.", and this is our hidden meaning.
In this essay I have been asked to choose one of the twelve sections from ‘Staying Alive ‘and discuss why I believe it to be the most effective. It is clear that section 9 ‘War and Peace’ is the most effective. War poetry is harsh and to the point. It is filled with gruesome images and vivid descriptions of war time. The poems in this section will resonate with you for a lifetime. .Most poetry of this genre is based around the topic of World War One and World War Two. But also around other famous wars in history such as the American Civil War and Troubles in Northern Ireland. This poetry contains messages of hatred towards war and towards the idea of war. This section includes poetry of very famous poets who not only were alive during the war but some of whom also
“Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle” is an example from the third line of first stanza. Owen constructs the rhythm “rifles’ rapid rattle” by using alliteration to allows us to get the sound, and the image of the strong sound of rifles’ fired. The onomatopoeia ‘rattle’ usually comes with the word ‘rapid’, to emphasise how fast it is, and also to express the violence of the rifle. Rhythm of the poem helps develop the feelings and the mood of sorrow and anger to the reader to convey the theme. The rifles express how evil and how reckless the war was for the soldiers to keep on shooting guns while the fellow members are passing away, suffering with the pain they got from the shot from the rifles from the enemy forces. This connects to the theme because they are not treated individually once they die, but treated only as one of the people died, which is forgotten. “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds” is from fourteenth line in second stanza. Owen ends the poem by giving you the image of weak lights coming through the blinds on twilight. It does not give you any violent, and rough image, but instead calm image of a new day. By using the word
Conflict is a big theme and many poems and texts have been written on this topic, but two of the most well done and most expressive poems about this topics are “Out of the Blue” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. Even though the topic is the same the two authors, Simon Armitage and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, present the theme with different approaches, one about the innocent, one about the ones that chose to get involved In the conflict.
In times of war, soldiers must surpass obstacles and be ready to face challenges. Witnessing the valiant efforts of these men that throw their lives on the line instills an insurmountable sense of pride in the hearts of spectators. Both Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem and Richard Caton Woodville Jr.’s illustration entitled “The Charge of the Light Brigade” incorporate literary terms to express their feeling of pride towards the Light Brigade. Tennyson exhibits this by using repetition to signify the danger of fighting in battle, in addition to imagery to help the reader imagine how terrifying war is, while setting a respectful tone. Woodville shows a feeling of pride through the setting, symbolism, and powerful imagery.
Within the context of recent history, Wilfred Owen is often considered the greatest writer of modern British war poetry. Composing the vast majority of his poems in a one-year time span, Owen found inspiration from his personal experiences fighting in World War I and fellow poets joining in the fight around him. Born in 1893, Owen grew up the oldest of four children, enjoying a particularly close relationship with his mother while his father remained distant. Owen graduated from Shrewsbury Technical School at age eighteen. Afterwards, Owen took numerous odd jobs throughout Europe, seemingly at a loss for his purpose in life. Owen returned to England in September 1915, a year after the Great War began, and enlisted in England’s Artists’ Rifles