"Dulce Et Decorum Est" and "The Soldier": a Comparison of The Poems

Introduction: World War One was a time of extreme patriotism, violence and agony. Many were affected by the nature of war and were encouraged to write stories and literature grasping war’s true reality, wanting to share with those at home the horror that was experienced by the innocent soldiers that were initially blinded by honor and patriotism. However, not all literature composed during World War One captured the harsh reality of war. Background: The Soldier by Rupert Brooke and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen are two examples of war poetry written during World War One. Both were written about conflict, war and death, sharing the same themes of war poetry. However, the poems written from two very different perspectives and deal with the subject of war in contrasting ways. The poets base their poems on their own personal experiences during war, and considering both poets had very different involvements, in turn, so are their poems. Dulce et Decorum Est explores the unpleasant reality of war, while on the other hand The Soldier glorifies the idea of dying for your country. Thesis statement: To make a comparison of the poems, Dulce et Decorum Est and The Soldier are analyzed in this essay.

Topic sentence: Both Owen and Brooke were involved in World War One, however, their involvement in the war heavily affected their options on war. Owen wrote Dulce while he was at the war hospital in Craiglockhart, Edinburgh; near the end of World War One and had experienced war’s true horrors. He wanted to write a poem that would describe war in a truthful way, as he thought it was necessary for the civilians at home to understand war as it really was. Evidence & citing: The title of the poem itself, Dulce et Decorum Est, translates to it is honourable to die for one’s country. Owen reveals through his writing how this was the misleading, ‘old lie’ that was told for centuries to those encouraged to enlist. Commentary: Dulce explores the cold truth about war, and how it continues to haunt him, forever suffering. On the contrary, Brooke’s writing displays how it is noble to die for one’s country. Brooke’s history in war was cut very short, he passed away before even going into battle. The poem was written in the early stages of World War One and was used to try to convince others to enlist. Brooke was unable to see the true effects of war and is a great representation of the majority at the beginning of war. Evidence & citing: As Brooke wrote The Soldier at the beginning of World War One, it corresponds with ‘the old lie’ Owen speaks of in Dulce.

Topic sentence: When comparing the structure of both poems, they are similar in the fact that both were written in iambic pentameter. Additionally, both share a structured rhyming scheme. Evidence & citing: Throughout the first stanza of Dulce, Owen uses similes to portray the tone of the filthy and grimy standards that the soldiers faced. Owen draws you in to the graphic scenes of war with ‘men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on.’ The exhaustion of the soldiers is portrayed with vivid imagery and language such as ‘lame’, ‘drunk with fatigue’ and ‘we cursed through the sludge’. In the second stanza, Owen then goes on to change the mood to chaotic and fast paced. He uses language such as ‘fumbling’ to capture the soldiers’ panic. The third stanza describes a misfortunate soldier who is consumed by the gas and ‘floundering like a man in fire or lime’ ‘drowns’ in his own blood-filled lungs. In the final stanza, Owen explains the message of the poem through gory metaphors of truth; ‘his hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin’ and ‘obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud’. Owen uses ‘of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues’ to portray how innocent boys are experiencing horrific deaths because of ‘the old lie: dulce et decorum set pro patria mori’. Through use of fire imagery and the use of the word ‘devil’, Owen compares the soldiers’ deaths to hell. Instead, Brooke uses nature and heavenly imagery to relate to war and dying for one’s country. In the first stanza of The Soldier, Brooke uses language such as ‘blest’, bringing light to the poem and using nature imagery such as ‘rivers’ and ‘sun’. In the last four line of The Soldier, Brooke personifies England, saying ‘her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day’, comparing war to a dream. This contrasts to Dulce, when Owen explores his recurring nightmares of terror and war. Brooke also says how his ‘heart is at peace, under an English heaven’ also again contradicting Owen comparison of dying in war and hell. Commentary: While Dulce conveys the vile truth of war and shares negative ideas towards dying for one’s country, The Soldier conveys the complete opposite, emphasizing how death for one’s country is a noble end and England is the noblest country for which to die. Through their poems, Brooke and Owen create opposing moods to represents their ideas.

Topic sentence: Both Brooke and Owen use various literary devices in their poetry to share their feelings and thoughts related to war. Evidence & citing: The Soldier is written as a sonnet and is a romantic, love-letter to England. The repetition of the word ‘England’ and ‘English’ throughout the poem expresses Brooke’s love for the country and in the second stanza he explains how this love has ‘shed all evil away’, and is now ‘a pulse in the eternal mind’. Commentary: Brooke’s feelings and thoughts towards England are conveyed through his constant glorification of dying in war and his patriotic messages. Contrastingly, Owen uses varied literary devices to suggest the harsh and bitter reality of war. Evidence & citing: ‘Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge’ uses onomatopoeia to imply how heavy and difficult the ground is to cross. Owen also uses personification in ‘till on the haunting flares we turned our backs’ to suggest how death is haunting the men and they live their life in peril; its presence constantly follows them wherever they go, which in turn leaves them restless. Owen highlights how youth and innocence are destroyed by war, this is seen in the contrast of the simile ‘of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues’. Through their literature, both Brooke and Owen convey their feeling and thoughts towards war in contrasting ways.

Conclusion paragraph: Through the contrasting poems The Soldier and Dulce et Decorum Est, Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen share their opposing feelings and thoughts about war and dying for one’s country. Both The Soldier and Dulce et Decorum Est highlight the firsthand accounts of Brooke and Owen’s experiences, yet they differ drastically in many other ways. Both poems are unlike in form and rhyming pattern. Despite their two different perspectives on war, they do have a common element. Both poems describe World War One, however, have completely different messages and morals.

References

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