Wilfred Owen Poetry Analysis

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Diction and tone can greatly influence the theme(s) in written work. Richard Lovelace, Lord Tennyson, Mary Borden, and Wilfred Owen used diction to develop the themes within their poems. Furthermore, there is a difference in tones due to the writer’s era. Lovelace and Tennyson were influenced by Victorian ideals (1600’s and 1800’s), whereas Borden and Owen wrote during the early 1900’s – a time of war and dramatic social upheaval. This resulted in completely different perspectives and ideals about war – the common focus of their poems. Moreover, this essay will elaborate on the difference between the two sets of poems in terms of diction, tone, literary devices, and how they help in developing the main themes within the poems.
Unlike literary
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Moreover, the creation of sound adds depth to the tone of the poem and solidifies the theme that going to war is honorable. In a like manner, Owen used rhyme and rhythm in his poem to emphasize the sound of war. However, in the first poem, the sound of war expresses the pride and honor of the soldiers, while in the second poem, it expresses their pain and …show more content…
Each poem has its own distinct theme. In the same way, while all four poems share a common theme: that war is bad, they convey other themes that oppose each other. Starting with Lovelace’s poem, the main theme he tried to develop is honoring war, and that going to war is more important than everything else, even his beloved ones. Evidence to that is the line from his poem that says, “Loved I not honor more” (line 14). Likewise, Tennyson tried to develop a similar theme: honoring the soldiers for sacrificing their lives for the sake of war and defending their country; “honor the charge they made! Honor the light brigade.” Conversely, Borden and Owen’s themes were completely different to those of Lovelace and Tennyson. Borden condemns the wasteful slaughter of people, just as Owen who finds war a waste of lives and tries to reveal why people should not go to war throughout his poem. This is conveyed at the last two lines from “Dulce et Decorum Est”: “The old lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria mori;” which is the Latin for “it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country,” where Owen presented it as an old

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