Wilfred Owen's Poetry and War
Wilfred Owen is now seen as one of the most important of the many
poets of the First World War. He was born the son of a railway worker
in Shropshire, and educated at schools in Shrewsbury and Liverpool.
His devoted mother encouraged his early interests in music and poetry.
When he could not afford a university education, he went abroad to
teach English in France. He was there when war broke out in 1914, and
decided to return to England to volunteer for the army.
After training, he became an officer and was sent to France at the end
of 1916, seeing service first in the Somme sector. In spring 1917, he
took part in the attacks on the German Hindenburg Line near St
Quentin. When a huge shell burst near him, he was shell-shocked and
sent back to England. The horrors of battle dramatically changed him
from the youth of August 1914, who had felt 'the guns will effect a
little useful weeding'.
From his experiences, Owen was able to write very graphic and
realistic poems, to show his reader the true atrocities of war. Three
of his poems that show different aspects of war are; 'Anthem for
Doomed Youth', 'Dulce et Decorum Est', and 'The Send-Off'.
The poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', is a long comparison between the
elaborate ceremonial of a Victorian-style funeral, and the way in
which men go to their death on the western front. The poem is written
in the form of a sonnet, and has a very traditional format. Owen wrote
in this way mostly due to the influence of the poet Siegfried Sassoon,
whose experience and high education helped him greatly during this
period. The poem is made up of fourteen lines, and follows the rhyme
scheme abab, cdcd, effe, gg.
The title of the poem ...
... middle of paper ...
...st; the
contrasting 'lie' of the phrase 'Dulce et Decorum Est, Pro patria
mori', the contrast of elaborate Victorian funerals and the way in
which men go to death, in Anthem for Doomed youth, and in The
Send-off, the contrast of the phrase 'grimly-gay', to imply a sense of
guilt and conspiracy to the poem.
The three poems that I have studied, all show different aspects of
war, and have many similarities and comparisons. However, they were
all written with the same intention and opinion, by a soldier who had
first-hand experience of the front line, and as such would not be
duped by the media's portrayal of war as romantic and heroic.
I think that the overall message Owen is trying to portray, is that
the atrocity of war should be considered utterly senseless, brutal,
and inhumane, and avoided at all costs, no matter what the situation
happens to be.
end of the First World War he was writing and became a voice heard all
The Horror of Pity and War in Regeneration by Pat Barker and Collective Poems of Wilfred Owen
When he returned from the army he got enrolled at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He received M.A. degree and began to work on his Ph.D. at the same time he started teaching at University of Minnesota and later at MacAlester College. He received Ph.D. from University of Washington for study on Charles Dickens and he did public readings. He taught at Hunter College in New York City from 1966 to 1980. He also worked as translator. He completed some of his poems as he was teaching in the college he states that he didn’t feel any conflict between the duties of teaching and the labors of writing books which are non-academic.
Portrayal of War in the Pre 1900 Poetry Before 1900, war was always seen as a glorious thing. People truly believed in the words of the ancient writer Horace, "Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori. " This phrase can be translated, as "It is a lovely and honourable thing; to die for one's country". Pre 1900 war poetry was strongly patriotic and glossed over the grim reality of death, preferring instead to display the heroic aspects of fighting. If death was mentioned, it was only in a noble and glorious context.
other hand, John Mc Crae was in the 2nd wave of poets. He viewed war
are not free in service, you do what you are told and this is the same
“In what ways does the poet draw you into the world of poetry? Detailed reference to 2 poems”
War has cursed man for eternal history. Its devastation has prolonged tragedies for millions of people. The gruesome killings represents the pain of innocent men who fall in the drains of perdition. The instruments of violence target the zones of demolition and the souls of brave men. This essay examines the massacres of war in Owen.
Comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: Dulce et decorum Est. and Anthem for Doomed Youth. In this essay I will be comparing two war poems written by Wilfred Owen: ‘Dulce et decorum Est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. By Comparing the two I will be able to distinguish the fact that Wilfred Owen is very anti-propaganda and that's why he feels so strongly about this. The two poems have many similarities but also a fair amount of differences, which I will be discussing in this essay.
told he was out of action for six months. It was here that he first
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.
The next line expresses the way in which he has no grave stone, just a
Considered the leading English poet of the First World War, Owen is remembered for realistic poems depicting the horrors of war, which were inspired by his experiences at the Western Front in 1916 and 1917. Owen considered the true subject of his poems to be "the pity of war," and attempted to present the true horror and realities of battle and its effects on the human spirit. His unique voice, which is less passionate and idealistic than those of other war poets, is complemented by his unusual and experimental style of writing. He is recognized as the first English poet to successfully use pararhyme, in which the rhyme is made through altered vowel sounds. Owen’s distinct way of both writing and reading poems led to influence other poets in the 1920s and 1930s.
World War one and two. Both these wars stole many young men’s lives from them. Stole sons from their mothers. Stole brothers from their sister but also stole many innocent lives in the process. An estimated 60 million lives lost and for what? For land, for power, wealth. War is brutal, gruesome, costly and pointless. What good could possibly come from a war? The truth is without these wars, the world of literature wouldn’t be the same. These wars bought rise to names such as Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, and Edward Thomas. Among all that death, destruction, and calamity; somehow great poets were born.
How Wilfred Owen Uses Language and Imagery in His Poetry to Communicate his Attitudes of War