Young Chivalry Poem Analysis

The perceptions of war were changed when confronted with the realities of World War One. This statement is significantly true as viewpoints of war were dramatically alternated which can be seen through primary sources from before, during and after World War One (herein known as WW1). The poem ‘Young Chivalry’ written by Alan Gross in 1914 is a source that represents the perception of war before the outbreak of WW1. Next, a letter written in 1915 by Vernon Keyworth Boynton to his sister, represents the insight on war during the midst of WW1. Lastly, the poem ‘Dolce et Decorum Est’ written by Wilfred Owen represents the outlook of war after the conclusion of WW1.
Firstly, before the outbreak of World War One, war was viewed as a time to show …show more content…
During the midst of war, soldiers had come to realise that war wasn’t as good as what they originally thought. The horrors of war are evident in the Letter written by Vernon Keyworth Boynton where he states that there was “blood pouring everywhere”. Without a doubt, soldiers began to start feeling scared due to the surrounding bombs around them. Soldiers were also upset due to the sightings of their injured mates, as Vernon mentioned, “there were mates all around us, some dying, others with arms and legs off”. Vernon described war as “dreadful” and said how he “never thought war could be so awful”. Throughout the letter, Vernon appeared miserable as he said, “I’m very tired of hospital life” and, “we had the bad news this morning that Bulgaria had declared war against us”. Despite Vernon’s difficult situations, he tried to remain positive saying how he was “lucky to have got off as well as I (he) did” and although “we’ll get through in time, (but) not without great loss of life”. The disliking towards war only seemed to grow even after WW1 had …show more content…
The outlook on war after WW1 had settled was still negative, however the hatred towards war just gradually grew and became larger. The hatred developed due to the number of lives that were lost in the war, and no doubt because of the idea that soldiers had to sit in the trenches continuously for days and weeks and months on end. As seen in the poem, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, the terrors of World War One are deeply described in an undesirable way. Wilfred Owen mentions hearing the sounds of people “coughing like hags” and “gas-shells dropping” whilst “cursed (cursing) through sludge”. This gives evidence as to all the diseases that were caught on the fields including trench foot. Visions of poor men “guttering, choking and drowning” were fairly frequent to see on the treacherous battlefields. Owen also described the dreads of seeing “blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs”, looking more “obscene as cancer”. These shocking sightings viewed in World War one led to war overall being perceived as an unfair, outrageous and injustice event that in the end is just ruining the lives of “innocent” humans, both young and