World War 1 Poetry Essay

Over the years hundreds of poets have written thousands of poems relating to World War One ("Wilfred Owen", 2000). Often world war 1 poetry would depict war as being a rewarding and worthwhile experience, however, not all poets felt this way. Wilfred Owen an English writer born in 1893 was known for his upfront take on war with his often negative poems relating to why war is bad and soldiers should not fight for it. Owen was inspired and influenced by a fellow writer he met at a hospital while at war, Siegfield Sassoon (Cooper, 2011). Similarly, to Owen, Sassoon also wrote based on his own experiences as demonstrated in poems as his earlier pieces are more positive towards war and then when he experienced war himself he began writing more negatively. As Sassoon and Owen wrote based on their life experiences and views of war their texts can be analysed using author centred approaches including

In Dulce et Decorum lines nine and ten ‘Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets(8) just in time;’. These lines and word choice display the fears and problems that often arose during war times and portrays to audiences the struggles and pain that was associated with war. Owen’s experiences influence these words and portraying this idea to audiences as during his time in the war he was blown up, concussed and suffered shellshock leading him to meet Siegfiled Sassoon at a hospital in Edinburgh who encouraged and inspired Owen to write his own poetry (Roberts, 2016). This experience showed him the pain that could be caused by war experiences and therefore influenced him to write negative war poetry. Close readings of absolution by Siegfield Sassoon can also demonstrate how his experiences told a story through his writing. ‘Till beauty shines in all that we can see. War is our scourge; yet war has made us