The writers of 'Joining the Colours' and 'The Send Off' both use poetry to express their feelings about soldiers leaving for war. Each have similar attitudes about the subject, but use different approaches to try and get their message across. Both question the popular concept of war, including ideas such as heroism and glory. Katherine Hinkson, the poet who wrote 'Joining the Colours', shows the scene from two different perspectives, that of the audience watching the soldiers and also her own point of view. Wilfred Owen simply shares his thoughts by describing the soldiers leaving from a station, although the effect is no less powerful. As Hinkson is a woman, she focuses more on a mother or wives point of view, whereas Owen gives more of the soldiers perspective.
The structure of each poem helps to add to the mood. In 'Joining the Colours', the rhythm is lively and regular. The rhyme scheme is also very simple and consistent, following an ABAB scheme. The constant rhythm and regularity of the verses gives the effect of soldiers marching. This is ironic, as although the scene is a jolly one, the rhythm contrasts with the poets feelings of sadness and despair. The rhyme scheme in 'The Send Off' is also very regular, although the lines vary in length and the verses are split into two and three lines. Owen also uses enjambment, which makes the poem feel disjointed and irregular. This shows that although the process of sending the soldiers off is very organized, the underlying feelings of the men are that of uncertainty and false courage. Both poems use short lines at the end of each stanza. This brings attention to these lines, and they are often the lines intended to be thought provoking. Phrases such as 'Into the dark' and 'As ...
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...s how quiet and secretive the atmosphere is. Rhetorical questions such as 'Shall they return to beating of great bells in wild train-loads?', encourage the reader to reflect on the point the poet is trying to make. Owen answers this with 'A few, a few, too few for drums and yells', emphasizing how few soldiers will return home safely, too little to be worth celebrating.
In conclusion, both poets share a similar view about men leaving for war. They question the glory associated with leaving and fighting, and Hinkson successfully portrays the contrasting attitudes towards it. Whereas Joining the Colours is driven by the emotional aspect, The Send Off is unusual because of its lack of emotional language, however it still successfully creates a sombre mood. In my opinion I prefer The Send Off, as the serious tone better gets across the message and feeling of the poem.
are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same
The two poems I will be comparing and contrasting are ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen along with ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Wilfred Owen wrote his poem in the duration of the World War one, the poem was first published in the 1920’s. Owens imagery shown in the poem is repulsive and presenting an ugly side of war, the language used by the poet is fierce. On the other hand Lord Tennyson wrote the poem at some point in the Battle of Balaclava in the 1854 however, Lord Tennyson has a diverse vision on war due to not understanding how war was, his imagery demonstrates a calm slow story explaining how he thought war would be. Both poems are similar however they tell there stories in different ways.
The poem’s theme was everyday encounters of the average soldier. The poem says” there in a room as I wake from sleep vision presses upon me; The engagement opens there and there and then in a fantasy unreal, The skirmishers begin, they crawl cautiously ahead, I hear the irregular snap! snap! The theme in the letter was something that happen in the war. In the beginning of the letter it states “ Here is a case of a soldier I found among the crowded cots in the Patent hospital. He likes to have someone to talk to, and we will listen to him. This means that poem was meant to reach out to the average soldiers, while the letter was to inform his mother what was happening when he worked as a
In both poems, there is a clear difference in poetic style and structure of the poems. In ‘Mending Wall’, there is only one long stanza, where the ...
Another tool in developing the effectiveness of the poem is the excellent use of diction. The word "blood-shod" explains how the troops have been on their feet for days without rest. Also, words like "guttering", "choking", and "drowning" shows us that the troops are suffering in extreme pain and misery. If you haven't noticed, most of these words are examples of cacophony, which are words with harsh and discordant sounds. As this poem is about how harsh and terrible war is, Owen's use of cacophony is very effective in generating the tone of the poem.
Therefore, although both poems are written on similar topics, the poems are quite different, mainly only agreeing on the fact that war is wrong.
Owen opens his poem with a strong simile that compares the soldiers to old people that may be hunch-backed. ‘Bent double, like old beggars like sacks.’ ‘like sacks’ suggests the image that the soldiers are like homeless people at the side of a street that is all dirty. This highlights that the clothes they were wearing were al...
In conclusion, I think that throughout this poem Wilfred Owen has created a mood of anger and injustice. He has done this effectively by using poetic techniques such a imagery, metaphors, similes, alliterations and rhyme. To make the reader feel the same he shocks them with the true horror of the war and involves them in the poem by using words such as 'you'. Owen's true anger and bitterness comes clear at the end with the ironic statement at the end:
Owen was able to evoke emotions through the use of imagery, as well as the usages of literary devices. This poet tends to use a lot of similes, metaphors and personification to express his image of the death and destruction of the war. ‘The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.’ The use of personification gives the reader a clear feeling of what Owen is trying to express. Furthermore, sense of demonic force is also shown about torture for the soldiers. . Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle’- personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia combine as methods to make war seen more brutal, violent and cruel. His uses of describing ...
In ‘Anthem of Doomed Youth’ Owen shows another version of the suffering- the mourning of the dead soldiers. When Owen asks “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”, his rhetorical question compares the soldiers to cattle as they die and suffer undignified. Owen uses this extended metaphor to confront us with the truth, that there are too many fatalities in war. As such, the soldier’s deaths are compared to livestock, to emphasise their poor treatment and question our perspective about soldiers dying with honour. With an overwhelming death toll of over 9 million during WWI, Owen depicts how the soldier’s die with the repetition of “Only the...” to emphasise the sounds of war that kills soldiers in the alliteration ‘rifles’ rapid rattle.’ Owen also illustrates the conditions that the soldiers died in and how they were not given a proper funeral in the cumulation ‘no prayers nor bells,/ nor any voice of mourning.’ Owen painfully reminds us that we have become complacent with the deaths of soldiers, seeing them as a necessary sacrifice during human conflict. Thus, Owen shows us what we have overlooked about war, that is, that it brings endless death and long-lasting grief to the surviving soldiers and the people around
Owen’s poem uses symbolism to bring home the harsh reality of war the speaker has experienced and forces the reader to think about the reality presented in romanticized poetry that treats war gently. He utilizes language that imparts the speakers experiences, as well as what he, his companions, and the dying man feels. People really die and suffer and live through nightmares during a war; Owen forcefully demonstrates this in “Dulce et Decorum Est”. He examines the horrific quality of World War I and transports the reader into the intense imagery of the emotion and experience of the speaker.
The next line expresses the way in which he has no grave stone, just a
...e see a young boy being taught how to use weapons. In “Exposure”, Owen depicts a group of soldiers freezing to death at war, even though they aren’t in the midst of fighting. Lastly, in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” we read about a soldiers who struggles to get his mask on during a gas attack (when the enemy releases a gas deadly upon inhale). Owen describes the soldiers slow death in detail. Not only do these images provide the reader with first hand accounts of war, but they also show Owen’s feelings towards the war. All of these images that are glued into his head will be there forever, which is why he incorporates these realities in his poems, so that everyone can realize that war is nothing more than a inhumane act of terror.
Owen wants his readers to think about the harsh conditions of war, and understanding the tragedy and sad emotions of soldiers who wouldn’t get the last laugh since many of them die. To reference the title of the poem, Wilfred describes the weapons getting the last laugh at the end of each stanza. In “The Last Laugh,” Owen identifies the way in which the weapons have more power versus religion, family, and love. According to line 3, “The Bullets chirped -- In vain, vain, vain!,” the bullets are mocking his religion. The weapons might have hit the soldier to make him curse at God and be in vain. Therefore, the soldier would be punished and the weapons would laugh at him. In line 4, “Machine guns chuckled -- Tut-tut! Tut-tut!,” the sound that
The soldiers are being attacked by poisonous gas. Owen draws attention to the one soldier who didn’t put his gas mask on fast enough. The poor man is suffering to the point of death in front of his fellow soldiers. Bryan Rivers, in his article, “Wilfred Owen’s Letter No. 486 As A Source For “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” explains Owen’s views about war by stating, “In his depiction of war, there is no “home” or place of safety “well behind”; just when the struggling soldiers think themselves safe from the “tired, outstripped FiveNines,” the gas suddenly overtakes them” (29). Owen concludes this poem by stating that anyone who experienced what happened to that unlucky soldier would view war differently. Owen’s goal was to display the realities of war and not portray it as heroic. This is one example of how World War I impacted