Wilfred Owen and his Pity of War :: Wilfred Owen Poems Poetry War Literature Essays

Through His Poetry Wilfred Owen Wished to Convey, to the GeneralPublic, the Pity of War. In a small Examination of these Poems,With Reference to Others, Show the Different paths in which He achieved this.Wilfred Owen fought in the warfare as an officer in the Battle of theSomme. He entered the war in January of 1917. However he washospitalised for war neurosis and was sent for rehabilitation atCraiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh that May. At Craiglockhart hemet Siegfried Sassoon, a poet and novelist whose ignominious antiwar workswere in harmony with Wilfred Owens concerns. It was at Craiglockhartwhere Wilfred Owen produced the best work of his short career underthe tutelage of Siegfried Sassoon. Siegfried Sassoon had recently madea public resolution against the continuation of the war by throwinghis Military Cross medal for bravery into the River Mersey inLiverpool. Wilfred Owens earlier work ignored the subject of war butSiegfried Sassoon urged him to bring out on the war. Wilfred Owen wrotehis poems while at Craiglockhart as a cathartic experience to help himto forget his experiences in France. He overly wrote his poems as anattempt to hold the war and to make people realise how horrific itwas.In a thorough examination of the poems Anthem for Doomed Youth,Dulce et decorousness Est and Disabled and also with some reference toother works by Owen, it can be seen that he uses different poeticalfeatures, styles and systems. Wilfred Owen addresses his readers fromdifferent stances right up to him addressing the reader personally.This method is very effective in evoking feelings from great anger andbitterness to terrible sadness and even sarcasm, making the readersometimes even feel guilty. Whichever way he chooses to portray thepity of the war the end result is always the same.Dulce Et Decorum Est is a direct attack at the people in Britain whohad been interpreted in by the propaganda drive by telling them the truth ofwhat life is really like at the f ront and in what conditions theirsons, fathers, brothers etc. are in. Dulce Et Decorum Est consistsof four unequal stanzas, the first two in sonnet form, and the lasttwo in a looser structure. The first stanza sets the scene of soldierslimping back from the front. The authorial stance is of Owen tellingus of his own personal experiences. The second stanza focuses on oneman who could not get his gas mask on in time. This is a recurringnightmare that Owen has, where he sees one man drown in the gas and