Compare Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen, and Before Agincourt

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Compare Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen, and Before Agincourt

by William Shakespeare.

Before Agincour and Dulce et decorum est

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I have chosen to compare two poems for this piece of work, and they

are Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen, and Before Agincourt by

William Shakespeare. Both look at War as the main subject, but express

very different views on it. Wilfred Owen has written a very powerful

poem about a man dying from a gas attack during the First World War,

whereas Shakespeare writes a rhetoric poem about the honour and pride

found in battle.

¡Dulce et decorum est¡, and ¡Before Agincourt¡ are two poems so

incredibly far away, in meaning, from each other, that it is very

difficult to compare them. The one big difference is their attitude

towards war. Wilfred Owen has actually been in a war. He saw what he

wrote about. He was there, as the writing is his thoughts and

feelings. Shakespeare wasn´t in the war he wrote about. He wrote

about it after it happened, either as a way to boost morale in England

at the time of the Spanish Armada for Queen Elizabeth, or because they

were his own views on War. This battle did actually happen, but Henry

didn´t say these words, Shakespeare just put them in his mouth.

Owen´s poem is concrete. It happened and was real. He knows what

he´s talking about because he was there and went through it all.

Shakespeare´s poem is airy. It´s abstract and doesn´t appear to

mean anything. At a first glance its just men talking, but when you

read it properly you see that it is far more than that. Henry believes

so much in what he´s saying that he´s prepared to die for it. It´s

a very spiritual poem, in that it is not earthed, o...

... middle of paper ...

...y using words

such as guttering, hoots and gargling.

Shakespeare used no similes either, but Owen did, writing

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Owen´s poem much more than I did

Shakespeare´s. I felt that Before Agincourt was boring. I didn´t

like the lack of tension, action and drama. I thought that it just

went on and on around the same idea, that the language was flowery and

too old fashioned for me. Although both poems were repetitive, when

Dulce et decorum est repeated words, it really hammered the

message home, but when Before Agincourt repeated the same idea, it

just bored me. I felt that Owen´s poem less boring because it was

fast paced. It really happened and the images it described were vivid

and in your face. So, I would definitely recommend Owen´s poem to

anyone, and I did really enjoy writing about it.

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