The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, and Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen

The two poems about World War 1, ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke, and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen, each present their views in different ways. World War one started in 1914 and ended after four years. There are two main responses from soldiers. The two approaches have been written each in these poems. Both have similarities and differences. They are conveyed in different ways that affect the reader more at some points and less than others.

The two poets have a very diverse approach towards the war. In Anthem for Doomed Youth, Owen clearly expresses his opinions by using different techniques and types of writing. there is a change of tone throughout the poem. The tone starts with bitter passion in the first stanza to rueful contemplation in the second stanza.

Whereas, in The Soldier the reader can clearly see that Brooke has a patriotic and proud approach towards the war. He thinks of England as pure and perfect country. ‘In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;’ Brooke is arrogant and pompous that if he dies in the war he will

Owen was able to evoke emotions through the use of imagery, as well as the usages of literary devices. This poet tends to use a lot of similes, metaphors and personification to express his image of the death and destruction of the war. ‘The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.’ The use of personification gives the reader a clear feeling of what Owen is trying to express. Furthermore, sense of demonic force is also shown about torture for the soldiers. . Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle’- personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia combine as methods to make war seen more brutal, violent and cruel. His uses of describing ...

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...tmosphere and the solitude of a funeral where instead of alter boy’s candles, ‘there will be glimmering tears of good byes.’

However, in Brooke’s poem it is structured in a mixture of both Petrachnn and Shakespearean sonnet. It has an octave and a sestet with a rhyme scheme of ABAB. In the first stanza he describes England as his body both mentally and physically and how England will always be exsot to him. In the second stanza he talks about England itself and he will be in peace if he dies in war as he will be under an ‘English heaven’.

Consequently, Owen conveys so many deep emotions to the reader that it feels as if one is really in the battle. The reader would be overwhelmed with the detailed descriptions of the war and about its pain and destruction that it has caused. On the other hand, the reader would have felt that Brookes poem was shallow and bias.