Itane tam dulcis est?: Comparing “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “Facing It”
What image comes to mind when one hears the word, “soldier?” Usually, something akin to Captain America is the image many people imagine. A young, strong, and heroic man who seems like an indomitable force ready to face any threat. Sometimes, that image is correct, but usually only at the beginning of a war. The image rarely remains as soon as combat is entered. That is what “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa try to show their readers in their poems. Both poems serve to show the horrors and backlash of war on the psyche of soldiers, but Owen’s poem is told from the perspective of a soldier serving in World War One, while Komunyakaa’s poem is told from the persepective of a survivor of Vietnam. The period of time each poem takes place in is a large …show more content…
“Dulce et Decorum Est” takes place during World War One, the first large scale war that involved nearly every country of the world. Oddly enough, the incredible scale of the war had very little ability in broadcasting the status of the war and the soldiers publicly. Thus, the heroic image of the soldiers in the war had yet to be tainted and many people still believed the image to be true. Owen tries to counteract this image with his poem, stating that the soldiers were “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,/Knock-kneed, coughing like hags,” (Owen, lines 1-2). Owen is trying to inform the general public that war is not as glorious as many people like to believe by telling the story of a group of soldiers fighting in a horrible war. On the other hand, Komunyakaa, while giving the reader the same message as Owen, did it very differently from him. Komunyakaa served in the Vietnam War, one of the first wars to be publicly broadcasted with ease. Opinions of the war during this time
What image comes to mind when one hears the word, “soldier?” Usually, something akin to Captain America is the image many people imagine. A young, strong, and heroic man who seems like an indomitable force ready to face any threat. Sometimes, that image is correct, but usually only at the beginning of a war. The image rarely remains as soon as combat is entered. That is what “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa try to show their readers in their poems. Both poems serve to show the horrors and backlash of war on the psyche of soldiers, but Owen’s poem is told from the perspective of a soldier serving in World War One, while Komunyakaa’s poem is told from the persepective of a survivor of Vietnam. The period of time each poem takes place in is a large …show more content…
“Dulce et Decorum Est” takes place during World War One, the first large scale war that involved nearly every country of the world. Oddly enough, the incredible scale of the war had very little ability in broadcasting the status of the war and the soldiers publicly. Thus, the heroic image of the soldiers in the war had yet to be tainted and many people still believed the image to be true. Owen tries to counteract this image with his poem, stating that the soldiers were “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,/Knock-kneed, coughing like hags,” (Owen, lines 1-2). Owen is trying to inform the general public that war is not as glorious as many people like to believe by telling the story of a group of soldiers fighting in a horrible war. On the other hand, Komunyakaa, while giving the reader the same message as Owen, did it very differently from him. Komunyakaa served in the Vietnam War, one of the first wars to be publicly broadcasted with ease. Opinions of the war during this time