The alarming certainty of the utilization of gas as a weapon of conflict added to the deteriorating of the soldier's state of mind. This issue exists in "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. Owen describes a scene of a gas attack "as under a green sea I observed him drowning". This simile explores the image of a solider dropping to his loss of life in a horrific way exactly like drowning in a 'inexperienced sea'. This offer further demonstrates an individual experience as Owen can attest to the reality and horror from it, and the part that tortures him the most is that he's unable to assist as he just "saw him". Repetition and punctuation emphasises the issue. "Gas! Gas! Quick Boys!" is the physical concentration of the poem, and the repetition signifies the immediacy of the shade to permit the audience to comprehend and engage more in to the truth of the soldier's situation. Owen also refers the soldiers as "guys", and this reminds the audience of the soldiers time and the dangerous and unpredictable circumstances the 'young boys' find themselves in. The technique further helps the audience to be attracted into Owen's world of poetry and understand that the soldiers were drained of these youth. Because of this, the soldiers admittance into the conflict at a young age as being a signal or an action of patriotism is only just a vintage lie of how nice and fitting it is. . . to pass away for one's country.
The disguising of the reality and just how countries perpetuate the optimism of warfare is a feature of "Dulce Et Decorum Est. Owen needs to show you realities of warfare to both the people at the home entry and the men being sent to war. Owen shows this issue in the last lines of the poem as he says "The old rest: Dulce et Decorum est/ Pro Partria Mori". This is actually the rest that revolts Owen, which in translation means "it is nice and commendable to die for ones country". This is the climax- the flawed justification Owen has revealed for the rest that it's. Owen uses oxymoron to support his view. "To children ardent for a few desperate glory". These ideas are designed to put the audience in some contemplation over what constitutes glory. The use of this technique further supports Owens make an effort at highlighting the immoral ideas of propaganda throughout his poetry for the glory and honour of dying for your nation.
The concept of massacre and waste of individuals life exists in "Anthem for Doomed Youth". Owen represents this as "what transferring bells for these who perish as cattle?". Owen uses this lines as you of great passion, which symbolizes how society perceives these men; a block of sacrifice to die for his or her country and not as specific men. Owen uses alliteration to engage his audience. The alliterative "Only the stuttering rifles quick rattle" emphasises the may seem of war and gunfire as the men's musical accompaniment to their loss of life - this is their "Anthem" and Owen suggests that this is their only 1. There is also a strong sense of rate in what too, which emphasises that the men are carving up their lives too quickly. This matter of the waste material of individual life effectively engages Owen's audience in understanding the reality of conflict. The uselessness and pointless fact of the moral and true interpretation of war is indispensably evident that it's not 'sugary to die for your country", but propaganda to gain nationalistic delight.
The brutality and viciousness of warfare is visible in "Dulce Et Decorum Est". It highlights the distressing and horrific activities of battle. He identifies the return of an dead solider in this manner: "behind the wagon that we flung him in". Owen's aim to create an apathetic image as the bet recalls carcasses of meat suggests a callous and irreverent response to yet another death at the front line. It really is a distressing image so that they can awaken the public's knowing of the reality of warfare. Owen uses imagery to emphasise this matter. "Obscene as cancer bitter as the cud/of vile, incurable as sores on innocent tongues. " All of this imagery is hideous and actually sickening as Owen wished to provoke a reply from his audience. It is astounding writing, but it is also appropriate as it advises disease but ironically the solider is beyond that - he's dying anyways. This offer is also suggestive of battle for itself being truly a disease, supported by the sustained use of similes. This problem help Owen's audience to visualise the disturbing and panic-stricken incidents the soldiers acquired endure without being emotionally attached usually their express of thoughts would disintegrate. Therefore the ideas brought up by Owen allow the audience to ponder and think about the ineffectiveness of war resulting in individual psychological post-war effects experienced at war. It is therefore by using vivid imagery that certain is able to start to see the futility of war and the way the "old lie" is displayed in Owen's poetry.
The soldier being deceived by shameless men in charge is obvious in "Anthem for Doomed Youth". The name shows that Owen is writing a genuine recognition of the hardships and sacrifice. Although he makes the poem a parody so that they can awaken civilisation duped by the "lie" he also desires to provide the troops their due reward for the horrors they experienced. Owen uses personification to highlight this issue. "And bugles getting in touch with them from unhappy shires". A bugle is a normal tool used to call men to battle - the calling is beckoning and hopefully the men will returning home. The men in control are aware of the troops' imminent fatality but continuously border the soldier's to fight by sharing with them it is patriotic to pass away because of their country but really there is absolutely no satisfaction in dying for your country as the men in control lead the military on their sacrificial journey. Warfare is described in the poem as futile with the only real result coming from it's the denaturing of internal consciousnesses or death.
The major theme of "Dulce et Decorum Est" is associated with its Latin name, which is extracted from a work by the Roman poet Horace. The full phrase is 'dulce et decorum est pro patria mori', which is often loosely translated, "it is sweet and appropriate to die for your country. " Owen consciously works to undermine this commendable declaration of patriotism by exhibiting the ignominy of loss of life in modern war. The men he explains in this conflict are anything but noble. Rather than confronting their foes in solo combat, the military in Owen's poem are retreating from the front lines. They are really tired, both in physical form and psychologically. They are really almost deaf to the noises of the slipping gas bombs that may take their lives at at any time. The visual realities of the battlefield didn't match the glorious descriptions of conflict prevalent in the literature Owen and his educated officer comrades possessed read. There was no glory in dying from gas poisoning. What Owen seems to have realized is the fact fatality by gassing was a metaphor for all death in modern warfare; the idea of a glorious loss of life was just a lie. "Dulce et Decorum Est" graphically depicts a central irony of death on the present day battlefield: Regardless of how noble the cause may be, the individual soldier can expect only misery in combat and an ignominious end should he be regrettable enough to become casualty. For the pity of battle is clearly apparent in expressing the perspective of World Battle I, as it is unquestionably bogus to trust war is noble and lovely to die for one's nation.
Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" asks what burial rites will be offered for the soldiers who perish on the battlefields of World War I and argues that, in place of a standard funeral, these men "who perish as cattle" will obtain, originally, a parody of funeral rites, enacted by the sound of guns, rifles, and "wailing shells, " and later the more genuine rites of mourning supplied by the long lasting grief of relatives and buddies at home. The scene might become simply gruesome and ugly, but Owen helps prevent this by concentrating on the may seem of warfare to be able to sketch parallels between your rites of burial and the conditions of leading lines. Complicated habits of sound in these first seven lines symbolize the sound and chaos of leading are noticeable in lines one and three which add a supplementary brief syllable to the usual iambic pentameter, so these lines end haltingly, stumbling to a detailed. The repetition of the stressed open up vowel followed by the audio of the notice 'n' in line two mimics the stable, regular thundering of the heavy guns, for example "only, " "monstrous, " "anger, " and "guns". As the repetition of the vowel accompanied by the sound of the notice 't' in lines three and four, for instance "stuttering, " "rattle, " "patter" combined with the alliteration of "rifles' speedy rattle" mimics the split of gunfire. The fact that the iambic pentameter of brand three is violated by both dactyl of "Only the" and the trochee of "stutter-, " along with the aforementioned extra syllable that ends the series, means that the collection basically stutters, imitating the abnormal staccato of rifle fire up and down the trenches. The usage of these aural imagery as well as onomatopoeia allows the audience to understand the effects of war and additional oppose the thought of patriotism to conflict. These images that the audience illustrate mentally express some sort of scornful disdain for the tools of death, however, the arena all together is one of chaos and horror in which the poet discovers only the lack of dignity and comfort, an absence underscored by the repetition of the words "no" and "nor" in lines five and six.
Wilfred Owen effectively draws responders into the world of poetry by employing poetic ways to create an appealing yet shocking image of conflict as a sadistic, unstoppable, untameable and unnaturally vindictive mechanical monster that kills without thought or reason for personal gain. This image offered throughout Owen's anthology to assault those who glorified and romanticised warfare. Owen's pacifist sentiments echo through his poetry, however his anger at the girl, politicians and propagandists of his time is obviously obvious in the profound imagery and the detailing of horrific fatalities on the battlefields. Owens poetry serves as a caution to future decades to reconsider before they again believe it lovely and appropriate to die for one's country, because after the initial onslaught begins, all control is lost and it becomes near impossible to override the vigorous and pity conflict retains through it, in the notion of the patriotism of dying for your nation is only an 'old lay'.
By Roland Allam - 21677728
