Dulce et Decorum Est and Suicide in the Trenches are poems which respond to the first World War. Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon use a variety of similar techniques in their poems to represent war in a negative light.
Both poems highlight the physical and psychological horrors of war. Owen uses a simile by likening the soldiers to 'old beggars' as the impact of war on their bodies has left them 'stumbling' and ' coughing'. The fact they are 'stumbling' suggests they are injured as a result of the conflict and the word 'coughing' implies sickness and ill-health. Fit men being described as 'trudge[ing]' suggests that war has taken its toll on them, sucking the energy and life out of them. Owens use of negative verbs would have shocked the reader at the time who would have been used to the positive language of propaganda which censored the negative aspects of war. They might begin to question their previous judgements on the true physical impact of war.
Sassoon creates a stark contrast in his choice of words between his first and second stanzas. The soldier is described as someone who 'grinned' and 'whistled' but following deployment onto the battlefield …show more content…
Owen uses irony in the title of his poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' meaning 'it is sweet and honourable', as he then spends the entirety of his poem convincing the reader that war is neither sweet nor honourable. The title is a reference to one of Horace’s Odes and would have been easily translated by readers in 1920 as latin would have been part of their education . The phrase was also used by war supporters. Owen, in using this phrase, mocks their views of war claiming it to be a 'obscene' and 'bitter'. In contrast the irony within Suicide in the Trenches comes from the form of the poem. He wrote his poem in iambic-pentameter which should make it upbeat and positive however the actual content of the poem is dark and harrowing, creating
Both poems highlight the physical and psychological horrors of war. Owen uses a simile by likening the soldiers to 'old beggars' as the impact of war on their bodies has left them 'stumbling' and ' coughing'. The fact they are 'stumbling' suggests they are injured as a result of the conflict and the word 'coughing' implies sickness and ill-health. Fit men being described as 'trudge[ing]' suggests that war has taken its toll on them, sucking the energy and life out of them. Owens use of negative verbs would have shocked the reader at the time who would have been used to the positive language of propaganda which censored the negative aspects of war. They might begin to question their previous judgements on the true physical impact of war.
Sassoon creates a stark contrast in his choice of words between his first and second stanzas. The soldier is described as someone who 'grinned' and 'whistled' but following deployment onto the battlefield …show more content…
Owen uses irony in the title of his poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' meaning 'it is sweet and honourable', as he then spends the entirety of his poem convincing the reader that war is neither sweet nor honourable. The title is a reference to one of Horace’s Odes and would have been easily translated by readers in 1920 as latin would have been part of their education . The phrase was also used by war supporters. Owen, in using this phrase, mocks their views of war claiming it to be a 'obscene' and 'bitter'. In contrast the irony within Suicide in the Trenches comes from the form of the poem. He wrote his poem in iambic-pentameter which should make it upbeat and positive however the actual content of the poem is dark and harrowing, creating