Comparison of Dulce et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth

Comparison of Dulce et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth

When I was searching for two poems to compare, I saw these two poems

and wanted to explore them to find out how Wifred Owen uses language

in different ways to warn future generations of the horror of war.

Wilfred Owen fought in the First World War. He enlisted as most young

men were doing, so that they could protect Britain. However, in the

trenches he realized how horrific the war was and started to make

notes about the conditions at first. Then later in a military hospital

he edited and collected these notes into the poetry of Wifred Owen.

'Dulce et Decorum Est' is Latin for: It is sweet and fitting (to die

for one's country). This line is repeated at the end and by the

principles of 'Chaldeni.' I know that by repeating a line at the

beginning and the end it is most remembered. This line needs to be

remembered as the poem is based on the idea of it as 'the old lie'

mocking the established belief of nationalism and duty to your

country. Also, it is mocking the established authoritative language of

Latin that was reserved for the courts and churches. The line is

sarcastic as Owen has now himself seen a gas attack and a man drown

'under a green sea', and has found out that dying out there in a far

off land was a waste of a life and is completely pointless.

How can it be sweet and fitting to die for your country if no one

knows about your death?

Similarly the line from 'Anthem for Doomed Youth':

'What passing bells for those who die as cattle?'

raises the same question - Who cares about these men that die deaths

like cattle that are just bred for their slaughter?

'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is a sonnet. Sonnets traditionally were

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...s the life

fading from those who died that day, slowly like the funeral march but

ironic as most of the men who died on the battle fields never had a

funeral. There is irony in 'Dulce' also - the whole poem is ironic.

Owen is saying it is not sweet or fitting to die in battle, to be

flung in a wagon with your eyes 'writhing' in your face.

Owen uses the idea of irony in war in both of these poems as he saw

misery, destruction, and pain and wanted people to be more aware of

the cruelty of war and hopefully to stop it from happening again. Both

poems have an alternate line rhyming scheme. 'Anthem.' uses the form

of a sonnet to portray a distressing message that flows slowly as you

would imagine a funeral march. 'Dulce.' also has a distressing message

but is portrayed in contradiction to its title. The idea of

nationalism, and much it's worth is explored.