Wilfred Owens poems ‘Disabled’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ effectively represents its compositional context because they both literally take us powerfully into the era of the Great War, through exploring graphically the violence and brutality of this conflict, highlighting the immediacy of those experiences by taking the reader into the heart of the war, illustrating how a texts context can reveal the impacts on soldier’s lives and on the war torn society from which they emerged. In Owen’s most moving poems ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ he explores the utter horror and context he feels for the needless violence and waste of young lives, while in ‘Disabled’ he highlights the social reality of alienation and restriction subsequently these poems show a portrait of World War and social, cultural & historical contexts which can illuminate our knowledge on the poems ‘key concerns’
The poem started unexpectedly in the middle of action as if halfway through an incomplete event that has already started. The soldiers are trying to escape the enemy’s fire but there terrible
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health conditions dismiss then from strong and immediate actions. “Bent double like beggars under sacks, knock kneed, coughing like hags” this statement provides the reader with an unexpected view and appearance of soldiers, as the army cadets are usually pictured as strong, healthy and brawny looking men. Owen erases this false image of an athletic soldier replacing it with a description of a ‘beggar’ and a ‘hag’. This means that the war had caused the soldiers to age prematurely. The following extract from the poem first part hints that the poet was present throughout the events; “we cursed through sludge” in this quotation, Owen uses his ability to create effective imagery and provides the reader with a feeling of pity for the soldiers. Soldiers are exhausted from their unhealthy lifestyle. This gives an excuses for their slow pace. The following sentence reveals a glimpse at the soldier’s action. “And towards our distant rest begun to trudge” The finale onomatopoeia of ‘trudge’ is a description of the soldier’s walking through the turbid sludge’s. They ‘trudged’ suggests their slow pace and difficulty of movement. This means that they limped and dragged themselves through these terrible conditions towards a ‘distant rest’ that was still far away, nowhere to be seen. In this statement Owen conveys the horrors of war by showing the reader the soldier’s sufferings. This implies we should feel sympathy towards the soldiers. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ refers to its compositional context by revealing ideas about the social and historical context through imagery. One of the main reasons he went to war was to ‘please his Meg’ but after returning with his injury, girls no longer seemed interested “now he will never feel again how slim girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands, all of them touch him like some queer disease” which is told in 2nd person as if someone is narrating this poor soldiers.
Secondly irony is used in the second stanza. Before he went to war he “like a blood smear down his leg” as if it made him feel strong and powerful. He liked to show off his scars, so people thought he was brave. Now his real wounds leave him disabled. There is a strong use of imagery “And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race, and a leap of purple spurted from his thigh”. Owen a soldier and poet in WW1, who was himself killed in that war, humanises the experiences of the battle field and he sacrifices made there, timelessly memorialising such action regardless of the
era. In the 6th stanza word choice is us dot show the tragedy of war. “’ why don’t they come?” which implies his fate. “When will this tragic life come to an end?” Wilfred Owen used poetic techniques very effectively to show the true effects of war. The use of Irony, contrasts word choice, and visual images, all emphasize the sheer horror of war and what it would be like to become disabled. ‘Disabled’ refers to its compositional context by revealing ideas about the cultural, historical, and emotional context of the war through word choice and imagery. In conclusion the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen is a deeply poignant poem that uses a variety of powerful techniques to express a very powerful message. Through his descriptions of the physical, mental and emotional effects of War, Owen skilfully delivers a searing attack on those who would encourage young mean to fight without understanding the real horrors of war. Owen seeks to shed light on these horrors and in doing so highlights the tragedy of innocent men who are misled into sacrificing their lives for their country. ‘Disabled’ contrasts with ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ showing the horrific after effects that happened to many men after the war or during it, and how they were no longer wanted. Both graphically image parts of the war and give a reality check to the reader about the war.
Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” describes a soldier who witnesses the death of his comrade from poisonous gas. Using imagery and irony, Owen presents a blunt contrast between the propaganda practiced for recruitment and the truth behind the suffering endured by the soldiers. While presented in different formats, both literary works criticize the romanticism of war, arguing that there is no glory in the suffering and killing caused by conflict.
To draw into the poet’s world, the poet must draw relations between them, including the reader, making them feel what the poet feels, thinking what the poet thinks. Wilfred Owen does this very creatively and very effectively, in both of his poems, Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori and Anthem of Doomed Youth, who is seen as an idol to many people today, as a great war poet, who expresses his ideas that makes the reader feel involved in the moment, feeling everything that he does. His poems describe the horror of war, and the consequences of it, which is not beneficial for either side. He feels sorrow and anger towards the war and its victims, making the reader also feel the same.
The use of compelling figurative language helps to reveal the reality of war. In the first line, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,"(1) shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. Another great use of simile, "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,"(20) suggests that his face is probably covered with blood which is the colour symbolizing the devil. A very powerful metaphor is the comparison of painful experiences of the troops to "[v]ile, incurable sores on innocent tongues."(24) This metaphor emphasizes that the troops will never forget these horrific experiences. As you can see, Owen has used figurative language so effectively that the reader gets drawn into the poem.
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.
Owen uses imagery constantly to convey the conditions and feelings experienced during this war. Firstly I will be exploring Metaphor as it is used so much in this poem. The first metaphor which I will examine is: “Haunting Flares” on line 3 of the first stanza. This quote has so many connotations, my first opinion on this was that the flares which the enemy are firing to light up the battle field are said to be representing the souls of the soldiers fallen comrades. This could also be said to represent the power the enemy has on their own mortality as the bright flares would light up the battle-field exposing everything to their view, this indicates that the enemy always seem to have power upon the soldiers, almost godly. The second metaphor which I will explore is:
‘Poetry can challenge the reader to think about the world in new ways.’ It provokes the readers to consider events, issues and people with revised understanding and perspectives. The poems Dulce Et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen, 1917) and Suicide in the Trenches (Siegfried Sassoon, 1917), were composed during World War One and represented the poets’ point of views in regards to the glorification of war and encouraged readers to challenge their perspectives and reflect upon the real consequences behind the fabrications of the glory and pride of fighting for one’s nation.
Poets from many civilizations and across vast amounts of time were always considered agents of change. Their remarkable poems gave them the power to play an influential role on human culture and society. One such poet is Wilfred Owen, who was a soldier for Great Britain during WW1. His writing described the horrors of war that he had seen and it was these antiwar poems which gave voice to the suffering soldiers in the trenches of WW1 and altered the British Empire’s view on warfare as a whole. Today, ladies, gentleman and students of the Brisbane Writers Festival, I am here to present an informative analysis on this man’s revolutionary poems “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Disabled.” They are two of his many poems remembered in English history as some of his greatest works. The poems
Human conflict is a violent confrontation between groups of people due to differences in values and beliefs. During World War I, poet and soldier, Wilfred Owen, faced the harsh realities of human conflict, dying at a young age of 25, only six days before the war ended. Owen’s personal encounters during war had a profound influence on his life as reflected in the poems and letters he wrote before his passing. In using a variety of poetic devices to write about the suffering and brutality of war, vividly captured in his poems ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, Owen effectively conveys his own perspective about human conflict. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ depicts the horrific scenes on the battlefield and a grotesque death from drowning
Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” makes the reader acutely aware of the impact of war. The speaker’s experiences with war are vivid and terrible. Through the themes of the poem, his language choices, and contrasting the pleasant title preceding the disturbing content of the poem, he brings attention to his views on war while during the midst of one himself. Owen uses symbolism in form and language to illustrate the horrors the speaker and his comrades go through; and the way he describes the soldiers, as though they are distorted and damaged, parallels how the speaker’s mind is violated and haunted by war.
As a poet, Wilfred Owens wants to show the effects of warfare from the viewpoint of a soldier during a War. Owens uses his own experience as a fighter to capture the reader’s attention and get across his point. He often uses graphic imagery and words to depict his thoughts about war. Wilfred Owens, poems, “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Anthem for doomed youth” talk blatantly about the effects of warfare on the soldiers, their loved ones, and those who make an ultimate sacrifice by making a statement about the efficacy of war.
Ultimately, we have two poems which can be compared on the grounds of their subject, but are poles apart regarding their message. The structure of these poems is not what would be typically expected from a war poem, but are structured on the basis of these typical structures in order to create some sense of familiarity. Brooke’s poem expands on this familiarity while Owen attempts to deliberately sabotage it. In regards to content, Brooke shows throughout his perception of the nobility of dying for one’s country, whilst Owen uses all of his poetic techniques to show the opposite.
...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.
Owens work can be defined by his use of language to transport the reader to the frontline of the war. His works evoke great emotion in the reader to empathize with feelings and circumstances of the soldiers he wrote about at the time. In his poem, Disabled, Owen shows the life of a soldier after the impacts of war as many soldiers were left without limbs. In the eyes of society, they were no longer fully human. He depicts how they were treated as outcasts, ostracized and left to die a lonely death:
Owen begins the poem with a depressing description of a man in a wheeled chair “waiting for dark”. The use of the word ‘dark’ gives connotations of death, implying that he’s waiting for his death to come. It also conveys a sense of isolation and sadness as the soldier no longer has a family. The mention of ‘sleep’ in the last line of the stanza can be an indication that death is near, since death is sometimes described as eternal sleep. Personification is used a...
‘Disabled’, by Wilfred Owen, is about a young boy who experiences war first hand, which results in losing his limbs. The loss of his limbs cause him to be rejected by society and be treated ‘’like a queer disease’’. Wilfred Owens personal opinion on war is evident throughout the poem. Own expresses a negative attitude towards war due to own traumatic past, experiencing war first hand.