The Truth About War In Stephen Crane’s poem “War is Kind” and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” both writers speak upon the ugly truth of how war truly is. These poems were highly talked about during their time because what these writers described in their poems is not what the majority of the people thought of when the idea of fighting for one’s country came into mind. War was often glamorized and it was seen as an honor to serve for one’s country. Although Crane never served in the United States military, he covered a number of conflicts for various newspapers and news services during the mid-to-late 1890s as a journalist (Edwin). Owen, on the other hand, did participate in a war and wrote about his intense personal experience …show more content…
He contradicts himself throughout the poem. He does this on purpose and it has a strong impact on the poem. He uses imagery to portray the true harshness of war. Crane writes, “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind. Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky and the affrighted steed ran on alone, do not weep. War is kind.” (lines 1-5). Crane’s detailed images of the fallen men in the first, third, and fifth stanzas show the savagery of war and its cruelty. The second and fourth stanzas provide more generalized images of war, the speaker's tone is a lot harsher. War is portrayed to be dark and intense, contradicting the title of the poem. Young men were encouraged to go to war. Everyone took pride in fighting for one's country. Crane’s attitude towards war was not positive. He is sarcastic and gentle, however he still manages to sound angry about how unfair war is. In the second stanza of the poem, Crane creates an imagine of the point of view of a general. This is illustrated in the following quote: “ Little souls who thirst for fight, these men were born to drill and die. The unexplained glory flies above them, great is the battle god, great, and his kingdom a field where a thousand corpses lie.” (lines 7-11). That speaker is talking to himself, he doesn't see his soldiers as real people. He refers to them as “little souls” which belittles them.All war does is cause death and destruction. Maidens lose their lovers, …show more content…
There is nothing light to the images he describes. In “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Owen keeps it straight forward. What he describes in the poem seems to be exactly what he wants his readers to see. However, in Crane’s “War is Kind,” it seems as if there are two speakers, but if you read closely, you understand that it is just one speaker, a General. The General deals with having an internal conflict. It is his duty to conceal the harsh truth of war, however he feels sympathy for the wife, baby, and mother of the fallen soldiers. The speakers of the poems may be ranked differently in the military, however, they share the same experiences and
Crane expresses this through irony. He amplifies the public’s view of the greatness of war in his poem, to ridicule, in a sense, this view to more deeply express his opinion that war is a harsh reality, the opposite of what most civilians make it out to be. Works Cited Crane, Stephen. A. “A Mystery of Heroism.” Elements of Literature.
In Crane’s poem, “War is Kind” he writes about how war is “kind,” though in reality, war it isn’t. War is never kind. The speaker is telling a maiden not to cry for her dead lover. He tells child to not cry over his dead father, and for a mother not to cry over her her dead son. Crane uses lots of irony in this poem. Which leaves the reader thinking the speaker is cold hearted. The speaker in Crane’s poem is sarcastic about war and is sardonic in his perspectives considering war. Although underneath the sarcasm and coldness, the speaker could be feeling anguish, and sadness. That person might be feeling bitter because he may have experienced war first hand or may have lost a loved on in war.
Both Stephen Crane's "Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind" and Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" use vivid images, diction rich with connotation, similes, and metaphors to portray the irony between the idealized glory of war and the lurid reality of war. However, by looking at the different ways these elements are used in each poem, it is clear that the speakers in the two poems are soldiers who come from opposite ends of the spectrum of military ranks. One speaker is an officer and the other is a foot soldier. Each of the speakers/soldiers is dealing with the repercussions from his own realities of the horror of war based on his duty during the battle.
Finally Owen juxtaposes the idea of war as devastating and the idea of war as heroic when he says “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest, to children ardent for some desperate glory,” to illustrate the poems ultimate irony –“Dulce ET Decorum est pro patria mori.
In the two poems studied, Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum est" and Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade", war has been described with completely opposing views. In the former, Owen describes war as a horrifying and inglorious event with men in war being grim and sorrowful while the soldiers died devastatingly. On the other hand, Tennyson describes war as being a glorious and victorious event where it is an absolute honour for a soldier to die on the gallant battlefield. To compare and contrast the two poems, the tone of the poems are examined where in "Dulce Et Decorum Est", Owen depicts the war as dismal, while in Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade", the author enlightens the experience of war as a heroic battle. To provide evidence of Owen's dreary portrayal of war, it is illustrated clearly in this tedious scene of war, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge."
The youth, naive at first, believes in the glory and reputation of war. He romanticizes the idea of fighting in a battle to be filled with admiration and respect from others. Just like the Greek tradition to commemorate
A Comparison of Dulce Et Decorum Est and Exposure Traditional war poetry gives the idea of patriotic idealism of war. This style of poetry implies that war is patriotic and that people who fight for their country are honorable. But many of the poets do not portray war as it really is, by glossing over the gory details with attractive images. Many traditional war poems were written before the war to persuade and encourage young boys to become loyal soldiers.
Owen serves as a great example of the losses that war brings. Many other poets, writers, and great minds were lost to the horrors and tragedies of war. Owen had a profound effect on the way that people view war and the events that take place. It also serves as a testament to what people involved with war had to go through, and what the survivors remember most of all, the sickening acts of voluntary torture.
He uses examples, such as a mother losing her son saying, "Mother whose heart hung humble as a button, on the bright splendid shroud of your son". By using these situations, Crane shows the reader that it does not matter who you or your loved ones are, in war there is only death, and honor and glory will not prevent it. Crane uses sarcasm in parts of the poem such as, " The unexplained glory flies above them, great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom..." to convey to the reader how terrible war is and then is truthful afterwards saying, "A field where a thousand corpses lie", to push his central idea of war being cruel and terrible. In life, war is not a romanticized place where there is nothing but honor and glory, it is a brutal place where people fight and die in cruel and bloody ways. Crane being a realist author, wanted people to know and depict war as it really was: horrific and terrifying.
Wilfred Owen is a tired soldier on the front line during World War I. In the first stanza of Dulce Et Decorum Est he describes the men and the condition they are in and through his language shows that the soldiers deplore the conditions. Owen then moves on to tell us how even in their weak human state the soldiers march on, until the enemy fire gas shells at them. This sudden situation causes the soldiers to hurriedly put their gas masks on, but one soldier did not put it on in time. Owen tells us the condition the soldier is in, and how, even in the time to come he could not forget the images that it left him with. In the last stanza he tells the readers that if we had seen what he had seen then we would never encourage the next generation to fight in a war.
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.
... Instead of idealizing war in a romantic way, war poets such as Wilfred Owen aimed to expose gruesome truths about these wars and how they impacted lives. It points a finger and criticizes the governments and authorities that wage these wars but don’t fight in them themselves but rather watch as lives are lost. It exposes propaganda for what it is, a tool for brainwashing. It puts into question the notion of dying for ones country to be noble, honourable and admirable.
The media also has a great impact on the minds of the public, like newspapers, televisions, radios, arouses the public’s interest and motivates the young generation to join the army and fight for the nation. However, there are artists who look at war in its very naked form. For example, the poet Wilfred Owen in his poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” demonstrates that no sweetness or honor is earned in dying for one’s country, instead humanity is taken away during war. In the first stanza, Owen uses strong metaphors and similes to convey a meaningful warning. The first line, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, describes the soldiers tremendous exhaustion.
In Stephen Crane’s poem, “War is Kind”, the basic theme of the poem can be compared to other themes in Civil War literature. The poem itself is ironic, stating that war is kind, when in reality, it is not. The theme is mostly the death of a soldier’s family members or loved ones. This is a recurring theme in most poems and stories about war. Crane uses imagery, alliteration, and so on to show his readers how he sees war.
A comparison of the ways in which Owen expresses anger at the war ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, ‘Disabled’. ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and ‘Futility’ are central to the way in which Wilfred Owen expresses anger at war. This anger is formed through the first-hand experience that Owen underwent, therefore his poems explore his personal emotions, specifically concerned with themes relating to the idea that the soldiers should not have had to endure that experience. Owen’s poems are overall imbued with a sense of reality as they display the cold hard truth of war, a perspective not commonly encountered by one.