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The theme of death in poems
Death themes in poetry
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Death is something that every person will have to deal with at some point in his or her life. The poems "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay" both deal with the concept of death, but in very different ways. They provide views of what death can be like from opposite ends of the proverbial spectrum. Death can be a very hard thing to experience, and the emotions that it evokes can be difficult to express as well. These two poems both express a feeling of loss through death, but the tones perceived by the reader in each are completely unalike. The setting of "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a battlefield during wartime, and tells of the main characters, the soldiers, fighting for their lives. The author, Wilfred Owen, was a soldier himself, who died in the war, which is one reason that this poem has such a personal tone about it. It relates directly to human experience. The reader cannot help but wonder if Owen experienced the horrors that he recounts in this poem. Owen also uses many personal pronouns, like "you" and "I" repeatedly as if to remind the reader war is a real thing and that they could easily be in the same situation. Line twenty-one reads, "If you could hear, at every jolt" followed by line twenty-five, "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest". The use of the word "you" and even "my friend" makes both of these lines very personal, as if Owen is speaking directly to the reader. "Nothing Gold Can Stay" also has a personal sense to it, but the author of this poem, Robert Frost, does not try to make the same connection with his readers. Allegory is put to use in this poem with the case of nature. Instead of using personal pronouns to draw the reader into the story as Owen does, Frost uses them to personify nature, always referring to it as "her". The opening lines of the poem say, "Nature's first green is gold / Her hardest hue to hold". This is a common occurrence in writing, especially when dealing with nature. By personifying nature as a woman, rather than just an object, the reader is able to connect more with that character. This is because it is easier for humans to relate to another person than it is for them to relate to an object, even if only on paper.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” shows how one soldiers need to survive indirectly causes another soldiers death. From the very beginning of the poem the reader sees how the war affects the soldiers. Fighting in the war has aged the soldiers, the once young men now “bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags” trudge through the warzone (Owen 1-2). The men, completely drained f...
Dulce et Decorum Est is about the horrific situation that men went through in trench war fare, ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge’. The poem depicts the struggle to survive and the traumatic experiences of the first world war from the horrible conditions that the men had to face, to the gassing of all those around them. This is evident throughout the poem. ‘Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots, of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!- An ecstasy of fumbling’. This use of oxymoron’s allows the reader to create an image in their minds thus bring them closer to the horrific setting of the poem and allowing them to really feel as if they were there themselves.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” showing an anti-war side, the poem was originally entitled to Jessie Pope. It shows a tone through out the poem of depression, sadness Owen gets his message across very rapidly and makes the reader feel like they had just experienced the war in the few minutes of reading ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ this is done from the metaphors and magnificent imagery used to show a terrible side of war.
The meaning of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" is "it is sweet and right", yet there is nothing sweet and right about going through what these soldiers went through on a daily basis in WWI. The first few lines use sad and depressing language to express an image of roughy soldiers pushing through an ever threatening battlefield. "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock- kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge" (lines 1- 2) is the way Owen describes the soldiers. This dismisses the belief that the soldiers were happy, proud, and patriotic. This shows them as physically and mentally exhausted, still pushing forward towards the one and only goal of surviving. Their disintegrating body reflects their inner turmoil and tiredness. The horrendous quality of war is shown by the description of the soldiers "men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood shod" (lines 5-6) this enhances the fact that war is not normal. It seems unreal, much like that of a nig...
All exceptional poetry displays a good use of figurative language, imagery, and diction. Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a powerful antiwar poem which takes place on a battlefield during World War I. Through dramatic use of imagery, metaphors, and diction, he clearly states his theme that war is terrible and horrific.
Death is a reality that can be interpreted in many ways. Some people fear the possibility of no longer living and others welcome the opportunity for a new life in the afterlife. Many poets have been inspired by death, be it by the approaching death of loved ones or a battle for immortality. Just as each poet is inspired differently, each poem casts a different hue of light on the topic of death giving readers a unique way to look at death.
The poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen portrays the horrors of World War I with the horrific imagery and the startling use of words he uses. He describes his experience of a gas attack where he lost a member of his squadron and the lasting impact it had on him. He describes how terrible the conditions were for the soldiers and just how bad it was. By doing this he is trying to help stop other soldiers from experiencing what happened in a shortage of time.
World War One was one of the deadliest results of human violence, simply to attain riches, land, and to fulfill the greed for victory and pride. Young and old men alike were deceived into joining war to fulfill a fictitious and nationalistic duty, and were forced to live in the inhumane conditions in the trenches, offering their lives as a patriotic duty. In Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et decorum est”, the readers are given an accurate description of the hardships and horrors of the world war 1, through the personal experience and eyes of Owen himself. Poetic devices and figurative language were both used immaculately in representing the tormenting situations that the soldiers were placed in. Vibrant imagery, themes and irony were also incorporated exceptionally into the poem, adding depth and meaning. With a remarkable use of techniques, Owen really creates a mental image of utter despair, disgust, revulsion and well, war in our minds.
Owen as a young soldier held the same romantic view on war as majority of the other naive soldiers who thought that war would be an exciting adventure. The documentary extract illustrates how markedly Owen’s perspective of the war changed, as noted in a letter to his mother while he was still in the front lines: “But extra for me, there is the universal perversion of ugliness, the distortion of the dead ... that is what saps the soldierly spirit.” In ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, Owen’s change of heart is evident through the irony of the poem title and the ending line “The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est, Pro patria mori.”, an allusion to the Roman axiom made famous by Horace, which translates to “The old Lie; It is sweet and right to die for your country.”. The line depicts Owen’s realisation that the horrific nature of war through human conflict is not sweet and right at all, rather, it is appalling and “bitter as the cud” as death is always present on the battlefield. Additionally, Owen indirectly responds to Jessie Pope’s poetry, a pro-war poetess, through the reference “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest… The old lie…”, further highlighting his changed perspective towards the war which has been influenced
The poem states that everything eventually comes to an end and that not even gold can remain unchanged. The poem explains this theme with many metaphors about everything that’s coming to an end. Freeman explains that “Even the poem's rhymes contribute to this sense of inevitability: Nature's gold we (or She) cannot hold; the flower lasts only an hour; the post flower leaf is like Eden's grief; the coming of day means that dawn's gold cannot stay”(2). The poem explains that everything has a natural cycle and that nothing lasts forever. When the poem states “nothing can stay gold”, Frost looks back at the flower and the time of day and implies that it all comes to an end.
Some situations in life cause you to grow up quicker, while others don’t. It is believed that the measure of your life is determined by how many lives you touch. It is not by how much money you make or how many records you collect. Although, can it be measured by how many people you kill? For Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon they think it is. They were both outraged by young soldiers lives lost from the horrors of war. In “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, it was a magnificent but terrible account of War World I soldiers experiencing a gas attack. Unfortunately, in the poem one of the soldiers isn’t able to get the mask on and suffers horribly. Wilfred Owen uses brilliant word choice and rich and raw imagery to reveal his ethics on war. For these reasons I chose “Dulce Es Decorum Est” as my favorite out of the two. I also selected “Dreamers” by Siegfried Sassoon because it explains the minds of soldiers on the battlefield. These soldiers daydream about their homes and family but lack realism of the situation. They reverie that they will remain alive while dead bodies surrounds them. In "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen and "Dreamers" by Siegfried Sassoon both poets use a first-person point of view to portray the harsh reality of war in vivid imagery, but with very different tones.
Death is one of the only true constants in the universe and is the only guarantee in life. Everyone knows of death and everyone will experience it, but to the living death is still one of life's greatest mysteries. In some cultures death is celebrated and embraced, while in others it is feared. However it is perceived, death holds different meanings for different people. Through the art of poetry a writer can give a reader many different outlooks and maybe a better understanding of life and death.
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
The style of the poem is short and explaines earth. The sentence nothing gold can stay means that if there is flowers on a tree it wint stay.
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is without a doubt one of the most memorable poems from the World War One era. Written by Wilfred Owen, the imagery within the poem and the tone of which it is written in creates an unforgettable visual of what the war was actually like.