Comparison of Three First World War Poems
The three poems that I will be studying in this essay are “Dulce Et
Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, “Comrades: An Episode” by Robert Nichols
and “Who’s For The Game?” by Jessie Pope. These poems are about the
First World War and two of them seem to have a negative attitude
criticising and downgrading the so-called spectacular experience of
the First World War. In “Dulce Et Decorum Est” Wilfred Owen seems to
mention good aspects of the War but compares them to low-class tragic
events. In “Comrades: An Episode” Robert Nichols describes the event
of a soldier being badly injured and eventually dying. It describes
what the corporals and soldiers did and how they reacted to the
situation. However, Jessie Pope’s poem “Who’s For the Game?” talks
about war as if it is a joke and the scary aspect of the war is taken
away.
In each poem a different picture emerges in one’s head. In “Dulce Et
Decorum Est” similes are used quite regularly to create dreamlike
settings and haunting images that provide a vivid picture of the
realities of warfare. To the general public soldiers were seen as
heroes but the first line of this poem ruins that image by describing
the soldiers as
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”.
This line creates a grim image of the soldiers portraying them to be
weak and helpless. Other similes are used to create a similar effect
in this poem. Another line, which relates to a soldier, is
“His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin”
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Which shows how fed up and emotionally tired this particular soldier
must ...
... middle of paper ...
...motionally and most likely
physically scared. The war should be known for its true meaning and
not the fake outside look of it. The poem “Who’s for the game?” is has
the opposite view to these poems. War is described as a game, just a
bit of fun and that if all these lucky men who have the opportunity to
go, in fact don’t go, they will be missing out. There is also a bit of
guilt in this poem, it is at the end. By mentioning the trouble that
their country is in, it makes men who have not joined feel bad that
they have let their country down and be led to such a bad state. When
men thought this, they automatically thought that they have to help
and mend what has gone terribly wrong. I find all three poems
extremely interesting because of all the different approaches taken to
get their point across and their ideas heard.
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are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same
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Comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: Dulce et decorum Est. and Anthem for Doomed Youth. In this essay I will be comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: ‘Dulce et decorum Est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. By Comparing the two I will be able to distinguish the fact that Wilfred Owen is very anti-propaganda and that's why he feels so strongly about this. The two poems have many similarities but also a fair amount of differences, which I will be discussing in this essay.
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The next line expresses the way in which he has no grave stone, just a
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Tennyson’s poem has a lot of action in it but Binyon’s poem is a view
He may have used this technique to make war seem if it had made men
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War consumes the youth of young men and completely alters a person. From numerous poems, it is made clear that war exhausts the youth of young men, and has left their lives with no meaning. These poems are “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Mental Cases” written by Wilfred Owen. Similarly, they both employ the same techniques, such as similes and metaphors. However, a somewhat different perspective is projected through the poem “In Flanders Field” by John McCrae, which dissimilitudes yet intensifies the main message. Whether from a more emotional perspective or from a physical view, war has devastated the prime time of many young men in multitudinous ways.